Engaging teachers in collaborative assessment of student learning. How do teachers make sense of it ?

Abstract

In Switzerland, the federal policy “Évaluation en commun” requires upper secondary teachers (students aged 15 to 20) to collaborate in the assessment of learning. What meaning do teachers attribute - or not - to this mandate? This contribution draws on interviews conducted with 28 teachers from three schools in French-speaking Switzerland. Their representations are analyzed using Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacy. The results reveal diverging, and sometimes ambivalent, teacher perspectives. Beyond individual representations, the article discusses the central role of the collective in the sense-making process related to such a policy. It highlights the dynamic and situated nature of this construction of meaning.