TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessment for social justice

T2 - the role of assessment in achieving social justice

AU - McArthur, Jan

N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education on 11/06/2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02602938.2015.1053429

PY - 2016/9

Y1 - 2016/9

N2 - This article provides a rationale for assessment for social justice, through which a greater focus is given to the role of assessment in achieving the social justice aspirations of higher education. It takes inspiration from work on assessment for learning to propose that as assessment is a powerful driver of how and what students learn, we should also consider its potential to drive a commitment for greater social justice within and through higher education. The article provides a critique of procedural notions of social justice, which I argue have implicitly influenced current notions of fairness in assessment. Greater reflection on the possible flaws in such procedural notions is a starting point for rethinking assessment in social justice terms. I then draw on two alternative conceptualisations of social justice – the capabilities approach and critical theory – to consider the ways in which key assessment issues would look differently through these alternative lenses. The article does not aim to establish a prescriptive list of practices around the notion of assessment for social justice, but rather upon debate and a greater appreciation of the implications of how we conceptualise justice and the attendant influence on what may be considered appropriate assessment policies and practices.

AB - This article provides a rationale for assessment for social justice, through which a greater focus is given to the role of assessment in achieving the social justice aspirations of higher education. It takes inspiration from work on assessment for learning to propose that as assessment is a powerful driver of how and what students learn, we should also consider its potential to drive a commitment for greater social justice within and through higher education. The article provides a critique of procedural notions of social justice, which I argue have implicitly influenced current notions of fairness in assessment. Greater reflection on the possible flaws in such procedural notions is a starting point for rethinking assessment in social justice terms. I then draw on two alternative conceptualisations of social justice – the capabilities approach and critical theory – to consider the ways in which key assessment issues would look differently through these alternative lenses. The article does not aim to establish a prescriptive list of practices around the notion of assessment for social justice, but rather upon debate and a greater appreciation of the implications of how we conceptualise justice and the attendant influence on what may be considered appropriate assessment policies and practices.

KW - assessment

KW - social justice

KW - capabilities approach

KW - critical theory

U2 - 10.1080/02602938.2015.1053429

DO - 10.1080/02602938.2015.1053429

M3 - Journal article

VL - 41

SP - 967

EP - 981

JO - Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

JF - Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

SN - 0260-2938

IS - 7

ER -