Making Sense and Use of Assessments

ABSTRACT

The present article is concerned with how Swedish students in the last year of comprehensive school make sense and use of educational assessments of their school performance. Based on interviews with 28 students in Year 9, “talk about assessments” is analysed using a discourse analytical approach inspired by Michel Foucault’s theories. The study shows that students find it difficult to both understand and make use of the assessments given by their teachers due to the overly complicated language. To receive the grades they need to apply for upper-secondary school, the students use other strategies to stand out and be perceived as “good students,” thus the assessment discourse is effective in the construction of adjustable subjects.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessments
• assessment language
• student perspective
• equality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.