Dr Jenny Robson and Dr Gemma Ryder

In this session we examine the potential of the Academic Blog as an authentic assessment task at level 7. Here an authentic assessment is understood as a cognitively complex task, that is intrinsically interesting to students and relates to the skills and abilities of students beyond the task itself (Frey et al. 2012.) Teaching in the field of early childhood in England we are aware of how government policy discourses position leaders and future leaders of early childhood practice as passive recipients and transmitters of policy (Robson, 2019).

 

Students, on this course, engage with critical debates about early childhood policy on social media and form critical knowledges about contemporary policy initiatives that are communicated through their Academic Blogs. We suggest that the academic blog, as an assessment task, has much to offer students beyond the purpose of summative assessment. This is work in progress and we are exploring ways in which the blogs can enter the public domain beyond the academic community.