Examining the Construction of “Teaching Assessment Literacy”: A Case Study of Teacher Conceptual Development in Collaborative Research Practice

Abstract

This study explored the trajectory of teacher concept development during collaborative research practice promoted by a university-school partnership teacher development program. Drawing on Vygotsky’s and Engeström’s notion of concept formation, it examined how a secondary EFL teaching-research officer (TRO) negotiated between scientific and everyday concepts as she co-constructed the research theme “teaching assessment literacy” with mentors and fellow teachers mediated by the program. Multiple sources of data were collected over a span of two years, including six rounds of oral defense and research reporting activities, classroom observations, interviews, journals, and research reports. The analysis showed that the TRO experienced a gradually integrated and transformed path of concept development, and also initiated an expansive learning opportunity for her research participants, triggering collective concept development. While the program played a significant role in providing multi-module facilitating activities, academic-practice joint mentoring and collective scaffolding, more subtle guidance is suggested for the tension-laden process.