Planning for learning is, according to Wiggins & McTighe (2005), “to be more thoughtful and specific about our purposes and what they imply” (p. 14). Using a planning methodology such as the backward design of Wiggins and McTighe (2005), is a great place to start. When designing assessment methods, thought needs to be given to the purpose of the assessment, and those that are being assessed. Despite the pitfalls outlined by Brown (2001), I believe the challenge I will have in the assessment methods I choose, is that they will be used with teachers. Teachers, and learning, and feedback, and improvement, are all words intricately woven into perceptions of self-efficacy for teachers. After all, teaching learners is what teachers do. In order to assess for the planned learning objectives, I am going to need to build motivation for “student” improvement in such a way that sets aside performance posturing/anxiety/paralysis and helps them forget, for the moment, that they are teachers [read: are learning].
References
Brown, G. (2001). Assessment series 3. Assessment: a guide for lecturers. LTSN Generic Centre: York.
Wiggins, G. McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=hL9nBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false