Avaliação da aprendizagem: anotações de uma escola da rede privada

Abstract

In this research, we discuss assessment processes in teaching and learning institutions. The motivation for this discussion reflects our observations that assessment processes in schools refer to outdated theoretical-methodological positions. Often, we still witness assessment instruments that invest in students' memorization. We point to another direction and emphasize that assessment instruments must be enabled for process analysis; that is, for the analysis of what the student can learn and do, rather than being limited to the ability to retain contente temporarily. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for managers to assume that the development of assessment instruments is a matter for teachers alone. This posture signals us the lack of knowledge of the broader sense of assessment, which must be linked to the general objective of the educational act underlying the practices of the teaching and learning institution. We anchor our research in the discussions of Vigotski's Psychology, developed with collaborators, in which the search for conceptual and methodological parameters is highlighted to capture the transformations over time that translate into human development. It was the merit of this Psychology to elevate this focus in educational scenarios, which culminated in the description of the Zone of Proximal Development - ZDP. This zone refers to the need for educators to look to the future tense or learning potential. We involved these questions in our research, to weave an argument in which the evaluative instruments must be directed to the development of each human being, in their diversified encounters with cultural expressions in educational environments, activated in interpersonal relationships mediated by language. We defend in this argument that the evaluative instruments should act as triggers for the ZPDs, considering that, with this quality, they contemplate the analysis of learning in development or directed to the future. The research we report here was of the intervention type and had the participation of students, teachers and managers. The general objective was to investigate the evaluation processes practiced in an educational institution in Maceió. The methodological design included different procedures: group-directed study, semi-structured interviews, conversation circles and participant observation. All procedures fostered the production of narratives written by the participants. As this is an intervention research, we work with the expectation of transforming the conceptions and methods of teachers, administrators and students regarding assessment processes. In the results, we point out emerging processes in these transformations.