The implications of assessment for learning in physical education and health

Abstract

This article deals with the implications of assessment for learning (AfL) in upper secondary physical education and health (PEH). Inspired by the research field that emanates from the concept of governmentality, the study is concerned with how AfL guides teachers’ and students’ actions in certain directions. Based on teachers’ descriptions of how they integrate formative assessment in their teaching practice, the purpose of this article is to investigate the possible consequences of AfL for the teacher, the student and the subject content.

The findings highlight different implications of AfL when it is viewed as (i) governance through freedom, (ii) governance through control and (iii) a dialectic form of governance. These concepts constitute certain teacher and student subjects and imply specific conditions for the subject content. In their different roles, for example as coach, deliverer/administrator and moderator, teachers expect different things from their students. In the first instance, students are expected to reach the open goals by self-regulation, in terms of individual choice and personal responsibility. In the second instance, students are subjected to disciplinary normalisation through criteria compliance by means of conformative assessment. In the third instance, students are activated as learning resources for one another using physical activities followed by group reflection. The tension between freedom and control can be described as allowing students to make their own choices but ensuring that they do this in relation to a predetermined idea about what is correct.