KAZAKHSTANI PRIMARY PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SURVEY: AN EXPLORATORY SEQUENTIAL MIXED METHODS RESEARCH

Abstract

The double role of pre-service teachers (PTs) as future teachers and as students challenges the findings of many studies on PTs’ understanding of assessment. Only a few studies consider PTs as both students and teachers at the same time. More research is needed in this field, and more specifically in the context of Kazakhstan where there is a limited number of studies examining primary PTs’ education. The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to conduct a qualitative study to explore how Kazakhstani primary PTs learn about, and develop their understanding of, educational assessment; (2) to develop a survey based on the findings of the qualitative study to specifically address primary PTs in the Kazakhstani context; (3) to administer this contextually and culturally sensitive survey in the quantitative phase to test it and explore Kazakhstani primary PTs’ understanding of educational assessment. These three purposes were met and supported by the sequential exploratory mixed methods design and its three phases. The research site was the Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education Program at Kazakhstani Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) which prepare future primary teachers. Phase 1 was a qualitative study at one of these HEIs. It involved the analysis of documents, six focus group interviews with 34 primary PTs, and one-on-one interviews with five of their teacher educators. Building on qualitative Phase 1 findings, the Kazakhstani Pre- service Teachers’ Understanding of Assessment survey was developed and pilot tested in Phase 2. This survey was administered in Phase 3 with 210 primary PTs enrolled in the Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education Program at the 10 Kazakhstani HEIs which agreed to participate in this research. Both strands of data, qualitative Phase 1 and quantitative Phase 3, were subsequently integrated and the joint results interpreted in relation to the theoretical background and previous studies. The results of this study revealed that Kazakhstani primary PTs’ experiences—as pupils at schools, as students at universities, and as student-teachers during practicum—contributed to their perception of multiple understandings of assessment with a dominant view on control, accountability, accuracy, and teaching values. The main contribution of this study is the development of a survey culturally sensitive and relevant to PTs in the Kazakhstani context. In conclusion, I submit several implications for theory, methodology, policy and practice, and for teacher education programs, and I suggest several recommendations for future research.