ABSTRACT
Recently, Assessment for Learning (AfL) has been promoted within schools through the Assessment for Learning Strategy (CIEA/DCSF/QCA 2008). Teachers have found this helpful because it provides a ‘recipe book’ of techniques that can readily be used within the classroom. However, without a real understanding of the underlying principles of Assessment for Learning, the Strategy may not produce the anticipated progress for individual learners. The focus of this chapter is to explore how the ‘spirit’ of Assessment for Learning can be used to help young people make progress in their learning and thereby improve their attainment in geography. This chapter highlights the importance of feedback and its complex nature. A note about terminology. Although it is recognised that in formative assessment it is the feedback (and not the assessment itself) that is used formatively, in this chapter the term ‘Assessment for learning’ is used interchangeably with the term ‘formative assessment’, and ‘Assessment of learning’ is equated with ‘summative assessment’. The aims of this chapter are:
• to understand how perceptions of Assessment for Learning may influence pedagogy.
