This collaborative project draws on both research and praxis when investigating novice language teachers' beliefs about assessment in English as a foreign language over a period of two years. The findings from survey and focus group data collected over 2.5 years, indicate a number of firm preconceptions related to assessor roles and different spaces for agency connected to the demand on accountability.
Since 2010, the Swedish Education Act states that all education must be grounded in science and proven practice. This means that not only policy makers, but also all teaching personnel working within the education system must keep themselves informed in their subject area and follow educational development and research. However, this is easier said than done. Assessor behaviour and teacher beliefs have become topical issues in educational research, as more weight is placed on final assessment results by policy makers. The identities of novice teachers entering the transitional space between student and professional, where accountability shapes their teaching practices, attract increased scholarly interest. However, longitudinal studies focusing on the development of language teachers' assessment identity are scarce. This project with its interest in language teachers' assessment identity, aims at creating a platform where research and experience meet and enrich each other in a collaborative and reciprocal way through a mixed-methods explanatory design. Since the first abstract of this presentation was submitted, the initial online survey among pre-service middle school teachers, have been followed by focus group interviews with novice teachers of English during two years. The plentitude of data, together with member check discussions of a plausible model on assessment identity development and change among novice teachers of English, will be shared for the first time. In this project, practitioners, in the form of novice teacher assessors, can gain meta-awareness of preconceptions and a better understanding of their own assessment practices. At the same time, scientific research gains original knowledge through a deeper understanding of the development of assessor identity. The win-win situation lies in the fact that this mutual enterprise could inform teacher education, everyday assessment practices and high stake testing, benefitting all students.
