Building a culture of assessment in the speech of Finnish as a second language teachers

Abstract

This study examines the construction of an assessment culture in the discourse of teachers of Finnish as a second language and literature at the broad level of the work community. The research material consists of thematic interviews conducted in 2021 (N=9). The interviews have been analyzed by means of interpretative discourse analysis. The construction of an assessment culture is the sum of many elements. In this study, these components are described by three dominant discourses: the discourse of direction, the discourse of goal-direction and the discourse of shared expertise. Based on these discourses, it can be concluded that the construction of an assessment culture should be based on assessment guidelines that are commonly shared in basic education practices. The cornerstone of this is pedagogical participation and open discussion of assessment principles and practices between different members of the working community. This requires a dialogical interaction within the work community. Through this, it is possible to achieve a common assessment culture. A new way of building a culture of assessment requires a new kind of community building, an opening up of assessment concepts, a clarification of curriculum texts and cooperation across disciplines.