Social Practices in School Assessment and their Impact on Learner Identities

This article analyses social processes of assessment in everyday school life and draws attention to their consequences for pupil identities. It thus raises questions about the power of conventional assessment in education. It suggests that: detailed study of assessment practices reveal patterns of social influence which question the aspiration to objectivity; research on classroom interaction, identity, and relationships indicates that assessment outcomes should be seen as social products as well as products reflecting capability or achievement; and holistic enquiry into the social mediation of assessment outcomes by significant others shows an enormous variability of consequence.