Decolonial impulses for assessment: Re-imagining an exam as a podcast

Abstract

In education spaces, decoloniality is more frequently discussed in pedagogy and curriculum, with decolonial impulses towards assessment less explored, even though this is an important power nexus in education. This paper presents a case study of a final exam in a teacher education course where critical dialogic pedagogy is presented as a tool towards decolonisation. For this to be effective students need to be engaged, tying the themes of the content and readings into their own lives, so the curriculum has resonance. The intention is to facilitate student voice (in the literal and figurative configuration) to show deep course learning, in an oral format. For the podcasts the students need to gather and marshal their thoughts orally, and their ideas emerge through critical dialogue and discussion with their peers, with an interlocutor (either inside or outside the classroom), with another set of podcasts, and with the course material. The methodology for the research is qualitative case-study, with data gathered from student reflections on the podcast exam. The paper argues that this method poses a potential learning-centred and decolonised formal assessment, which throughout the scaffolding process fulfils both formative and summative functions.