Chapter Eight

Examinations and Assessment

In the traditional curriculum model the fourth element is usually evaluation and it is generally agreed that this is actually part of the curriculum process. However, in the teaching and learning model that is under discussion here the examination and assessment of students constitutes the fourth element. Assessment is used throughout this chapter to refer to any form of evaluation of students in their educational work, grading to indicate a symbolic representation of the assessment and examination to the process, usually formal, of setting exercises that are completed, assessed, graded and the results published so that usually the students obtain some form of certificate or diploma. It will be recalled from Table 4.3 that education from above assumes that examinations and assessment involves public examinations, competition, teacher-set tasks and an emphasis on standards. By contrast, the education of equals emphasizes assessment by peers and by self and what has been learned rather than what is known. It is clear that these two forms are closely related to the teaching methods that were discussed in the previous chapter: in fact, it is emphasized here just how distinct these two forms are. Nevertheless, there has been an occasional overlap between the types of education in the aforegoing discussion and one other will occur in the following analysis.

It is perhaps significant that different types of assessment may be more well known than, for instance, different types of teaching method. However, for the purposes of focusing the discussion it is noted that among the different types of assessment that occur in education from above are: national and public examinations, e.g. General Certificate examinations; locally set examinations with national validity, e.g. university degree examinations; local examinations with assessment but with no widely recognised validity, e.g. college diplomas and attendance certificates. By contrast, there are less formal examinations and peer and self assessment, which are more likely to occur in the education of equals.

While it is perhaps still generally assumed that most educational examinations occur in initial education, it is becoming a much more common phenomenon for adults to sit both the school type General Certificate of Education examinations (e.g. Butler 1981), and for them to take vocational examinations throughout a considerable proportion of their early occupational career. Since the advent of the Open University many adults are also sitting university degree examinations within the context of liberal adult education, while much liberal adult education is still conducted without a formal examination although teacher-set exercises do often occur. However, there is an increasing emphasis on self and peer assessment, so that it will be necessary to explore these elements within this chapter.

It is important to note from the outset of this analysis that there will be some slight overlap with some of the discussion in sociological literature about the functions of education within the social context. Such an overlap is unavoidable since less emphasis has actually be placed upon this topic in that literature than has been placed upon education as a whole. However, it is considered here that the topic is significant enough to merit a separate chapter and that it is especially important as continuing education is institutionalising and more adults are actually sitting examinations and being assessed educationally for various purposes. It is suggested here that assessment and examinations: help to define a social reality and then legitimate it; reproduce the hierarchical relations in society; reproduce some of the social mechanisms through which society operates; reduce education to a commodity; provide status and identity for the candidate; reflect the individual’s subsequent performance in the educational system. Each of these issues are now discussed and that is followed with a brief analysis of self assessment and a conclusion.

Definition and Legitimation of Social Reality

It will be recalled that in the analysis of the concept of ‘need’ it was discovered how difficult it is to determine a national norm empirically. Since examinations are often about standards, frequently claimed to be national standards, which are norms, the same problem about determining these exist. But in this sense examinations define the standard but even this is problematic. There is ample evidence to show that work assessed by one academic will be graded differently by another, even when a comprehensive marking scheme is employed. There is evidence to show that markers vary in the grades that they award according to many variables, including the time of the day that the assessment is undertaken, the handwriting of the candidate, etc. (Jarvis 1978). Hence, grading provides a spurious objectivity to both assessment of assignments and to examinations. This does not deny that there are standards, it only questions whether such apparent objectivity as a percentage actually means very much. The grade may reflect the standards of the assessor at the time that the work is being marked, but even this necessarily includes factors that are contingent upon the process rather than only the essence of the work being assessed. All of this is well known to educators and many attempts have been made to eradicate some of the factors that causes such subjectivity and unreliability in examinations but, as yet, the problem has not been successfully solved. But that is almost certainly an impossible undertaking, since whether there is an absolute standard behind the apparent standard is a nice philosophical question. Even though this debate is well known among educationalists it is necessary to enquire why examinations and assessments are perpetuated in education as if there were no problem about them.

It would be possible to argue that since assessment is an essential part of the learning process in the form of diagnosis of what is known and what needs to be learned, it is fundamental to education. Additionally, it might be claimed that in the education of equals certain forms of assessment need to occur if one colleague is able to share his strengths with another in order to achieve the highest possible standards. None of this would be denied, but in none of these instances would it be claimed that there are absolute and objective standards and, in addition, assessment in the process of teaching and learning is a rather different process to that which occurs in either national or local examinations. These have a more significant place in society.

If there is no real possibility in determining a national norm, or standard, then national examinations do not reflect one but rather they create the illusion of there being one. Yet, as Rowntree (1977: 54) points out, ‘the standard of an examination adjusts itself to the standard of those taking it’. But even this an over-simplification of reality since he, himself, suggests that the standard is actually adjusted by those who control the examination for a variety of reasons, including the necessity to have failures. However, it is not actually the standard of the performance reflected by the grades awarded to whose who are sitting the examination at that time that is adjusted. This may appear a trifle pedantic but the fact remains that over a period of time the pass grade may have remained the same but the grades of a variety of markers adjusted each time the examination is taken. Hence, the pass grade reflects a spurious objectivity of examination success or failure and it is this that defines a social reality of those who ‘more able’ or ‘less able’ members of society.

Hence, it is these who are labelled ‘more able’ and awarded the educational certificate as an insignia of merit who are then permitted to proceed to more responsible positions in society. Since they are ‘the more able’ is appears self-evident that they should assume such responsibility and does it really matter if the examination has been subjective, since those who pass may have been the more able in their cohort? Even allowing for this, it does not allow for comparison between cohorts, but the question remains has the examination actually measured who are the more able or has it merely defined some as more able than others? This is a much more significant question and it may be necessary to look at other measures of ability to answer this question. Berg (1973: 110) concludes that:

The whole tenor of Berg’s argument is to suggest that the level of educational assessment and work performance may not be correlated in America. A similar conclusion was reached by Bowles and Gintis (1976:123) who suggest that:

Since both the examination achievement and the work performance may both be regarded as indications of ability, then it must not be assumed automatically that the former actually suceeds in measuring it but it does define ability since the examination grade is regarded as a symbol of the ability required to enter many responsible occupations and professions. Therefore, adults sit the same examinations as school children, so that they can acquire the certificate of ability necessary to enter, or to change, an occupation. Hence, it must be argued that the examination defines who are the more able and, thereafter, it legitimates the individual’s right to hold a position in the social system even if his work performance does not justify it. Irrespective of how able the practitioner is in the performance of his occupation, he is able to display his degree certificate, diploma of professional qualification, etc. to demonstrate his right to practise. As mandatory continuing education appears in various professions, additional qualifications and certificates are awarded and those too are displayed for clients to see, which perpetuates the process of legitimation.

Examinations Reproduce the Hierarchical Relations in Society

From the earlier discussion it might have been included that educational success is a mechanism whereby individuals might be socially upwardly mobile. Indeed, this may be a motive behind many people when they study for and sit examinations yet it is undoubtedly true that many courses are instituted with the highest of professional motives but the result of new courses and examinations may not quite be in line with the intention. Many years ago, Max Weber commented on this phenomenon:

Two points arise from this that requires some consideration at this juncture. Firstly, it may be seen that every new educational course and certificate creates both those who are able to acquire the certificate and those who, for whatever reason, are unable to do so. Hence, every educational innovation creates a new rich and a new poor. The more the financial reward is withheld until the successful acquisition of the educational certificate, the more it favours whose who have sufficient wealth not to require that additional remuneration. Of course financial grants and bursaries are available in some instances but these are not awarded to all adults as of right and neither do they necessarily provide sufficient income and to allow the adult to meet all his domestic commitments and to pursue that course of learning and some might argue that if such awards were available the perpetual student would appear. Hence recurrent educationalists have argued that everybody should, of right, be entitled to a fixed number of years of educational study after the completion of compulsory education. Clearly this is a policy decision that would enable some of the less wealthy to pursue such activities but few societies in the world have implemented it. Of course, those who are very highly motivated, but who have not sufficient wealth, may still acquire such accreditation by dint of hard work and sacrifice, but this is often exacerbated by the fact that there is considerable resistance in the universities and the professions to the introduction of part-time degree level study.

The second point that must be raised is the extent to which Weber’s claim is correct. Has, for instance, the introduction of part-time further education (as opposed to higher education) provided an alternative route to educational success? Halsey et al (1980:193) conclude from their study of education and mobility that the expansion of education in the United Kingdom was sufficient to provide more opportunity for individuals from all socio-economic classes but that ‘the largest absolute gains’ went to the service, or white-collar, class. The curtailment of the post-compulsory education service will, therefore, restrict the opportunities of all groups but it will probably affect the poorer more than the more wealthy. Hence, it may be concluded that those with wealth, social position, etc. took greater advantage of the expansion of education which is circumstantial evidence in support of Weber. In addition, there is considerable evidence in the sociology of initial education that demonstrates that the attrition rate in schools is related to class, with there being an inverse relationship between class and attrition. Therefore, it is suggested here that while Weber’s hypothesis has not absolutely conclusive proof, there is considerable evidence to suggest that he is substantially correct.

Examinations and the Reproduction of Society’s Mode of Operation

Much of the ethos of adult education is about cooperation between learners, so that all can share in the learning experiences, resources etc. of the group. Methods of teaching are employed that assume this form of co-operative enterprise. Adult education is, therefore, often a form of education of equals. However, examinations are individualistic, any form of sharing of knowledge is regarded as cheating; they are competitive in as much as the perceived standard is adjusted so that some candidates will pass and others fail thereby demanding competition between the entrants. Vandome and his colleagues consider that one of the side effects of competitive assessment at college level is:

Thus it may be seen that assessment and examinations produce an individualistic and competitive situation but, in addition, in the above quotation they produce a social hierarchy in which students locate themselves and behave accordingly. Hence, it may be seen that this reflects the ideology of the type of society in which the fittest individuals, industrial or commercial concerns, flourish in the battle for survival.

To some extent peer assessment overcomes this problem in as much as it places the emphasis upon the groups of equals seeking to help each other achieve better standards but, in other ways, peer assessment also makes colleagues aware of each others strengths and weaknesses, so that it may produce a situation in which the less able feel inhibited from contributing to the learning situation. Hence, it becomes apparent why some types of education, such as liberal adult education, emphasize cooperation but eschew examinations and assessment. Obviously it thereby opens itself to the charge that it is Utopian but that accusation has been answered elsewhere in this text.

Education as a Commodity

Liberal adult education and the education of equals place considerable emphasis on learning for learning’s sake. Paterson (1979:17–18) claims that education, as a concept, connotes something that is intrinsically valuable, rather than a process undertaken for instrumental ends. However, once educational qualifications are required for entry to the professions or even to further or higher education, then education becomes a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Hence, students seek good grades not for the sake of being perceived to have completed an excellent piece of work but because they may affect the overall standard of the degree, etc. Learning, therefore, is not undertaken for its own sake, not undertaken to satisfy a desire to know or to respond to a question in the human mind, but it is only undertaken to meet the requirement of achieving a certain grade. Hence, the learning may not be satisfying in itself, it may be an alien activity, undertaken as a means to achieve another end. Such an argument is remarkably familiar to sociology, for it was Marx (1975:326) who asked in ‘Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts ’:

It would be quite easy to rephrase the above quotation to relate to the learner seeking only to satisfy the demands of educational certification in order to proceed to still more learning! Marx (1975:328) continues to elaborate upon the conditions of alienated labour concluding that the logical outcome is that life ‘itself appears only as a means to life’. Once education is reduced to a commodity in this way, learning is reduced to memorization so that the essence of learning is no longer to respond to human curiosity and it is, therefore, no longer intrinsically satisfying nor is it directly essential to the process of living. Yet individuals subject themselves to the system for ends other than the acquisition of knowledge and education becomes a commodity to be bought and sold in the market place in which the educational certificate may be equated to the receipt of purchase and which permits the holder to live and work in specific social situations. Thus there is the antithesis of liberal adult education in which learning is seen as a direct response to human need, interest, curiosity, etc.

An Identity Ritual

Alienation is an estrangement from self, yet it is clear from many writers on adult education that the self-concept is important for adult learners. Brundage and Mackeracher (1980:26) claim that:

Hence, it is clear that if learning is not related to the self it can result in alienation but if it is related to the self, then it is central to adult activity and will be related to the self-concept. But it is also a fact that each individual sees himself to some extent in the way that he is seen by others. As Mead argued ‘ The origins and foundations of the self, like those of thinking, are social’ (cited from Thompson and Tunstall 1971:155). Self-identity is, therefore created and sustained to a considerable extent by interaction with other people. Individuals whose academic work is assessed by tutors or peers as successful, will begin to see themselves as successful and will, consequently, be more responsive to learning. By contrast, those who are adjudged to be weak will see themselves in this light and be less willing, therefore, to enter subsequent learning activities willingly. Learners will develop an identity that corresponds to the way that other people view them, although obviously this is neither automatic nor absolute. However, it must be borne in mind that since there are no absolutes nor objective standards, there is a sense in which society not only ‘creates’ its own successes and failures but ‘creates’, therefore, the positive and negative self-concepts that affect learning thereafter. This is a point to which further reference will be made in the next section.

This argument assumes even greater cogency when it is recalled that there are no absolute nor objective standards in examinations either. Those standards are determined by the members of society who exercise responsibility or control over the relevant examination system. But the candidate who is successful in the examination is regarded as a success, even though the success has been ‘created’ by society, but the failure is labelled a failure through the same process. The self-image of the candidate is affected by the way that he is labelled success or failure. Society has in effect ‘created’ its own successes and failures and those so labelled may actually come to see themselves in this light. The formal organization of the examination and the subsequent publication of the results may be regarded as a ritual process through which individuals are expected to pass by society and in it society confers an identity upon the candidate. Thereafter, the labelled individual is likely to associate with other people who confirm that identity of success or failure either because they have also been through the process or because they are aware of the identity conferred upon the person concerned. Berger (1966:119) suggests that ‘every identity requires specific social affiliations for its survival. Birds of a feather flock together not as a luxury but as a necessity’.

When Knowles (1980:45–49) discussed the self-concept of the learner he concentrated upon the self-identity with respect to adulthood but omitted discussion of the process described above. Yet it might be fair to assume that the type of learning climate that he seeks to engender in the teaching and learning transaction is one in which a person whose self-identity is that of academic failure might well discover opportunity to change. Many adult educators are aware of the need to help adult learners to see themselves in a different light. Belbin and Belbin (1972:167–168) note that the instructor with the most successful training record with London Transport declared that he always acted as if learners were going to pass their test but another with one of the poorest records claimed that he could see ‘who isn’t going to make it’ (Belbin and Belbin 1972:187). Hence, society ‘creates’ its successes and its failures in a number of different ways but the examination system merely ritualises the process. The examination, publication of results and any subsequent award ceremony are merely a ritual process in which that status and identity are formally conferred. It may be seen as a similar process to Garfinkel’s (1956) ‘status degradation ceremonies’ or Goffman’s (1968:27–30) ‘admission procedures’ to a total institution. Hence society both ‘creates’ and then confirms the identity of the individual self.

It is perhaps significant to note here that peer assessment acts in precisely the same manner, the self is nearly always affected by social interaction. It may not elaborate nor ritualise the process in quite the same way as do the more formal examination systems, but the more the self is exposed to peers and their assessment the more it will be the recipient of those social pressures. Hence, in this instance the education from above and this form of education of equals act in precisely the same manner.

An Aftermath of Examinations?

Individuals who have been through this process bring to subsequent learning experiences the products of the past, they also bring with them the self-identity that they have acquired. As was pointed out earlier, many adult educators are aware that they have to try to create a learning climate in which adults may achieve a self-identity that is orientated towards a successful outcome of a learning experience. Some adults may bring to a learning situation a successful work identity but a less successful educational one. Belbin and Belbin (1972:168) describe such an example:

Society, then, ‘creates’ its failures – perhaps even those who have a self-identity of success in other situations in which ability is measured.

Self-Assessment

Unlike all the other forms of assessment, self-assessment does not require external standards, external assessors nor certification. Self-assessment encourages the learner to concentrate upon the extent to which he has achieved his own aims in the learning situation and whether he has learned what he has wished to learn. This is a significant form of assessment in adult education. In some situations educators prepare instruments of assessment that the learner can employ to assist him to assess his own learning but in others the students are merely encouraged to assess for themselves. This is a manifestation of the education of equals in which there need be no interaction and, therefore, no outside influence either upon the assessment of upon the self. However, self-defined success is not the same as socially defined success; self-defined standards are not the same as socially defined standards. Hence, there is no recognised authority to define the social situation and to pronounce upon the fact that the learning has occurred. In the same way as illness requires a medical certificate to make the illness socially acceptable, so learning achievement requires an educational one to do the same. Self-assessment which may be a very valid method of learner self-diagnosis has little or no currency in the market place of social living. Hence, organizations are appearing that will award the symbols of success, such as degrees and certificates, upon a statement about what has been learned in the experience of living. Obviously, these organizations are not genuine institutions of learning but living is genuine so that they award false certificates for real experience! Their presence demonstrates the need for some form of social definition of success and failure in the present social system unless, of course, the learning is undertaken for its own sake!

Conclusion

Much of the above discussion has not concentrated specifically upon assessment and examination in adult and continuing education but upon the process in general. Nevertheless, many of the conclusions drawn from this analysis are relevant to the education of adults, especially as continuing education becomes institutionalised and more examinations occur. Yet every new course and every new examination, claimed Weber, is a barrier to inhibit social mobility upwards and to protect those in privileged positions. At the same time every new course and every new examination presents opportunities to the most tenacious of the less privileged to aspire to greater heights within the social structure, although many may aspire but few may achieve. Even so, this makes education a commodity and a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Philosophers may debate whether it is, therefore, truly education, for it would be true to claim that what is socially defined as education is frequently a means to a social end. But liberal adult education without examinations is frequently accorded low status and this is precisely because there is no social definition of its standards or of its utility.

This second section has concentrated upon some of the elements in the teaching and learning curriculum and they have been examined from a variety of sociological perspectives. However, having undertaken this exercise in which the process has been analysed, it is now necessary to locate adult and continuing education within the wider social context.