Beyond rhetoric: Leveraging learning from New Zealand's assessment tools for teaching and learning for South Africa

Abstract

South Africa and New Zealand have similar outcomes-based education curricula and share an assessment philosophy framework that encourages assessment for learning. There are, however, weighty differences between the two countries, which effect the implementation of assessment for learning in South Africa. In particular, South Africa is still a developing country, with significant infrastructural and economic challenges. Another difference is that academic performance in New Zealand, by international measures, is superior to that of South Africa. Simple adoption of a policy similar to that of a developed nation by a developing country is not guaranteed to produce similar effects. This study, using qualitative analysis of interviews with privileged insiders, investigates the realities behind the rhetoric of assessment for learning in New Zealand. The views and experiences of ministry officials, researchers, professional developers, and school users of the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning (asTTle) Project software are examined. The paper shows that the combination of professional development and assessment tools brought about a fundamental change in the philosophical assessment framework of teachers in NZ. This emphasises the importance of aligning assessment policies, teacher knowledge and infrastructure in schools to support assessment for learning in South Africa.