In Conversation with Ms. Grace Koh & Dr. Yip Hoe Yin

Rongchan: It is great to have both of you joining the editorial team for our AFAL Bulletin. Could you tell us about your background? 

Grace: I am a Chinese Language and Literature teacher and have taught at the JC level and in two Integrated Programme Schools. I have also had a stint at the Gifted Education Branch working with the GEP primary schools to oversee their CL curriculum. Prior to joining NIE, I served as HOD/Special Projects and School Staff Developer in a secondary school before switching to the teaching track as Lead Teacher/High Ability Learners.  

Hoe Yin: I began my teaching career as Mathematics and Design & Technology teacher in a secondary school. Subsequently, I served as Head of Information, Communication and Technology in three secondary schools and Vice-Principal of a primary school.  

Rongchan: Both of you are veteran educators with rich teaching and leadership experiences. What prompted both of you to join NIE as teaching fellows? What do you hope to accomplish through your stint here? 

Hoe Yin: I graduated with a doctorate degree in education last year. A secondment to NIE offers an excellent opportunity for me to continue my research in assessment and self-regulated learning. I hope to learn from very experienced researchers such as Associate Professor Kelvin Tan and Dr Tay Hui Yong to hone my skills as a teacher educator and a researcher. Most importantly, I hope to contribute back to MOE by imparting my knowledge as a researcher and a practitioner to pre- and in-service teachers. I hope I can publish my dissertation through my stint at NIE. 

Grace: As the School Staff Developer and subsequently Lead Teacher of my school, I had many opportunities to deepen my understanding of assessment and also to design professional development sessions for my teachers. While planning for my school’s assessment-related professional development, Dr Tay Hui Yong inspired me to change my teaching which in turn changed the way my students learn, and I am convinced that good assessment practices in the classroom are important for good learning to take place. I applied for secondment to NIE as a teaching fellow hoping to strengthen my theory-practice nexus and to have more opportunities to learn from fellow colleagues in LSA. On the other hand, NIE provides me with the opportunity to continue to share my experiences with other teachers, through which I hope I can also continue to contribute by getting more teachers to relook at their own assessment practices in the classroom. 

Hoe Yin: I fully agree with Grace’s perspectives. Indeed, there is an urgency for classroom teachers to re-examine their own assessment practices, enhancing our AfL strategies to improve students’ learning. 

Rongchan: It seems like we all share a common interest in educational assessment, especially in using assessment to promote learning. What were the incidents or experiences in assessment that have impacted you the most? 

Grace: Every year, I will attempt to change one or two assessment practices in my classroom. While there was much resistance to the changes initially, I am heartened to see that the various assessment practices have indeed started to change how students are involved in their own learning. It was encouraging to see that many were more involved in the feedback process and more aware of their own gaps, and taking relevant actions to close their gaps. I always remember one of my high support students coming up to me to share that she realised she had made the same mistake three times in a row, and she really wanted to know how to close that gap. That incident prompted me to persevere in implementing assessment changes in the classroom and know that with time, I will be able to help all students learn better.  

Hoe Yin: Through my research, I realised that students were unable to make sense of feedback from their teachers. As a result, they were unable to enact the feedback to enhance their learning. It was an “aha moment” as I began to be aware that my students might not have understood my written feedback for their mathematics homework. I realised the importance of teacher and student feedback literacy to close the feedback loop. This impacted me the most pertaining to assessment. I hope to impart knowledge of the feedback process to pre- and in-service teachers so that they can close their students’ feedback loop.   

Grace: I totally agree that it is important to have more professional dialogue with our fellow colleagues on improving assessment practices in the classroom. After many years on my assessment literacy journey with my department teachers, the changes in their understanding of assessment and how more conversations on feed up, feedback and feed forward started happening, inspired me to want to continue to contribute to the professional development of teachers in the area of assessment. 

Rongchan: On this note, what suggestions would you give colleagues who are interested in enhancing assessment practices in schools? 

Hoe Yin: It would be good for them to have a complete understanding of the entire feedback process such as feed-up, feedback, feed-forward, and teacher and student feedback literacy. Then they are in a better position to identify why feedback does not bring optimal student learning in their classroom. 

Grace: Start small and be open to feedback on our own assessment practices. We used to start our professional development training by getting teachers to go through the whole list of assessment terms, matching terms with definitions. While that contributed to my good understanding of what assessment is, it might not be the best way to engage teachers who have a lot of resistance to changing their assessment practices. At the end of the day, teachers want to see how changes can impact students’ learning and if we oversee enhancing assessment practices in school, we might want to work with a smaller group of teachers who are more ready and show the rest of the school how it can be done.  

We also need to be open to feedback on our own assessment practices. I have personally benefited a lot from my own students’ feedback on my practices, which allowed me to continue to refine my own feedback practices. Changing our own assessment practices and showing how that can improve students’ learning will also help to convince other teachers to join us in the journey. 

Hoe Yin: I agree with Grace’s perception. Our students are the best group of people who can tell how we can improve our own assessment practices. But most of the time, we would look elsewhere for an answer. Maybe it is time to go back to the basics, building a strong teacher-student relationship, so both the teacher and the students can learn and grow together.   

Rongchan: Indeed. We have a Chinese saying which means teaching and learning enhance each other; as we teach, we also learn. With that, thank you for this opportunity to learn from both of you through your insightful sharing. I look forward to working with both of you in the days ahead.