The Five Faces of an Assessor: Conceptualizing the Enactment of Teacher Assessment Identity in Vocational Education and Training

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of the schools.

	Description of the schools	Size	Location	Vocational programs
School 1	Upper secondary school with three vocational programs, supplementary courses for higher education, and vocational competence courses for adults	Approximately 350 students and 70 employees (45 of whom are teachers)	Central Norway, rural	Building and constructionAgriculture, fishing, and forestryTechnology and industrial production
School 2	Upper secondary school with two general studies programs, three vocational programs, and supplementary courses for higher education	Approximately 1,000 students and 180 employees (100 of whom are teachers)	Central Norway, in a city center (city with approximately 200,000 inhabitants)	Health and careElectronics and computer scienceRestaurant and food processing

Table 2. Coded responses and in vivo categories.

Nouns and phrases describing assessment identity and enactment of assessment identity	Frequency in data material	In vivo categories
quality controller, manager; responsible for controlling, checking, investigating, evaluating, and assessing the quality of students’ work	44	Quality controller
educator, teacher, administrator, office worker; bound by policy, curricula, competence aims, and assessment criteria	54	Educator
motivator, supporter, coach, fan club, cheerleader, trainer; encourage, motivate, support, help, guide, push, give a kick in the behind	68	Motivator
fosterer, parent, caregiver, guardian, mentor, counselor, supervisor; teach common decency, support upbringing, take care of	71	Fosterer
negotiator, diplomat, broker, peacemaker; negotiate, building bridges, two-faced, be pulled in different directions, deal with conflicting perspectives	52	Negotiator

Table 3. Five faces of VET teacher assessment identity.

The quality controller	The educator	The fosterer	The motivator	The negotiator
The quality controller maintains the connection to vocational communities of practice by possessing a reservoir of tacit vocational knowledge, ensuring authentic vocational training, and certifying that students uphold standards of vocational competence.	The educator maintains the connection to the curriculum and other educational policies governing education and is responsible for adapting teaching and learning to prescribed learning objectives and students’ needs.	The fosterer provides care to students so that they are prepared for adulthood and can support themselves in education, work, and society.	The motivator supports students who encounter adversity in school, work, or society, provides strategies for learning and human development, and encourages students to overcome obstacles.	The negotiator represents the need to cross boundaries between different communities of practice and negotiate between different situated standards, objectives, and understandings.

Figure 1. Vocational education and training (VET) teacher assessment identity.