I posted about the Canadian government experiment called Portfolio Based Learning Assessment and noted some of the...

I posted about the Canadian government experiment called Portfolio Based Learning Assessment and noted some of the issues I had with it. Here is a blog post by a teacher who has had more experience with it. Just thinking about teaching and how to teach better...
http://blog.teslontario.org/reflections-on-the-implementation-of-pbla/#.WvCDXhcUOVN.google_plusone_share

Comments

  1. Anne HendlerMay 7, 2018 at 8:16 PM

    Thanks for sharing. That's really interesting. I wonder how many current classroom teachers are involved in the policy decisions reflected in the conversation at the beginning of the post.

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  2. Claudie GMay 7, 2018 at 9:59 PM

    Anne Hendler lol Anne - if you can bear the looong description....In the decisions? You mean teacher input and agency. Nonexistent.
    First it is GOVERNMENT mandated system of Adult ESL delivery for newcomers to Canada. So decisions are made by shadowy figures in IRCC and CIC - Policy analysts, education managers, CCLB writers and managers, SPO and School Board administrators maybe those teachers/instructors chosen (like in the army) to enforce the “rules”..There is a stated policy of “no negative feedback” and those teachers that criticize are called laggards and resisters...and threatened with being fired...or pressured to retire or quit.

    Sounding a little antidemocratic?

    It is being made up as they go along...On top of all that there is a lunatic (unproven in terms of benefit for the learners) approach that says it is “AFL” (but it really is not) where teachers create assessments supposedly in such a manner, using tasks supposedly aligned to the Canadian benchmark” frame of reference (the Canadian Language Benchmarks..a “model” like the CEFR - but really different..) for tge goal of a panCanadian standardisation of language delivery - 2000 teachers...(are you still with me?!!!) all creating assessments for tasks ( which they have also created)..Standardisation? Of course not. Work/Life balance? None. Unpaid work? Major stress? Teachers on disability leave? Seemingly not a concern for the powers that be. Joy of teaching? Vanished. Yes, this IS in Canada.

    Are the assessments reliable, valid, consistent? Of course not! Learners are expected to “collect” 8 artefacts for each skill (LSRW) in a portfolio - and then THE PORTFOLIO itself is checked over by a “Lead” Trainer or an administrator and then IF the artefacts all match to requirements THEN the learner is promoted to the next level...(or not) So that is some background....The classes are continuous intake and There’s more but I’ll just stop here..remember we are talking about ADULTS who achieved much prior to coming to Canada..reduced to artefact collectors.

    You can see from this that the idea of “portfolios” for student agency, self reflection, showcasing is NOT what “PBLA” is about. Sounds warm and fuzzy but this is not the traditional, often exciting and useful tool called a portfolio.

    The reason I share? In an era of checklists, and Train the Trainer, and a focus on assessing, accountability , data collection the “OLD” ESL is considered the “wrong way” and the “NEW ESL” is supposedly here to stay because so much money has been poured into it. Not because it is valid. Sound familiar?

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