Assessment for social justice: finding moments to connect assessment and social justice
Jan McArthur, Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Justice, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University.
Assessment for social justice promotes the idea of both more socially just assessment and assessment that nurtures dispositions and actions towards greater social justice. As such, it may appear to impose an overwhelming challenge for busy academics, already struggling with workload issues, entrenched assessment cultures and crowded curricula. This masterclass seeks to demystify what assessment for social justice could mean in practice, and to enable colleagues to work with one another to locate those moments where assessment practices could be made more just, in both senses. I will demonstrate that by naturalising the relationship between assessment and broader social justice, we can start to see the opportunities for both small-scale and larger changes. The masterclass will inform participants about assessment for social justice and empower them to feel able to effect change, even in a seemingly hostile environment. We will consider how talking differently about the links between assessment and broader society and social justice can enable us to locate those moments where doing differently becomes possible.
Biography
Jan McArthur is Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in Education and Social Justice in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University. Jan has published several books and many journal articles looking at different dimensions of higher education, social justice and assessment. She regularly gives talks on assessment for social justice and/or her own rethinking of the idea of authentic assessment. All Jan’s work is underpinned by her use of Frankfurt School critical theory.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/educational-research/people/jan-mcarthur
ahenetwork.org 