The Validity of the School Assessment in the Craft Subject

Abstract

In this article, holistic craft is examined with the help of the literature of craft science and the National Core Curriculum in Finland (2004). The different stages of holistic craft are brought out as a didactic guide which directs the teaching of craft in basic education. In addition, assessment criteria direct craft teachers in assessing all the stages of holistic craft in school assessment. The empirical examination can be crystallized in the following research question: To what extent do pupils’ different skills in the different stages of holistic craft determine the school assessment of crafts? The research data was collected during the school year 2013-2014. Altogether 73 craft teachers from 59 schools participated in this research. The project was directed toward 7th-grade pupils in basic education. The data of pupils (N = 982) represent the quantita-tive research method. The indicator is an application from the ready-made design task indicator which was used by the Finnish National Board of Education during the national assessment of craft in 2010. The central methodological solution is the Linear regression analysis by the enter method. The central observation is that the pupils’ skills in the different stages of holistic craft do not determine the grades of the school assessment in the 7th grade in all respects. In addition the craft teachers' views on the skills of the pupils during the 7th grade do not determine the final grades in the 6th grade of the lower level at all. The craft teachers' views on the skills of the pupils are not based on the idea of holistic craft in all respects. The instructions and criteria, in accordance with the National Core Curriculum in Finland (2004), must be taken into the school assessment at the practical level.

In this research project, the validity of the school assessment is examined in the craft subject in Finland’s basic education. The criteria for the school assessment are based on the Finnish Na-tional Core Curriculum (FNCC) in which the idea of the Entire Craft (EC) is highlighted. How-ever, the discussion as to whether or not the school practice is based on the idea of EC, or whether the teachers are still focused on the technical details of products in reflecting on the pupils’ tool-handling skills, is still an ongoing debate. Learner-centred learning is implicated in EC since the pupils are expected to set goals for the implementation of their own ideating, plan-ning and constructing. And, finally, in such a process, the self-reflection of the implemented out-comes against the goals will take place. Altogether 73 craft teachers from 59 upper level schools participated in this research project. The pupils’ (N = 982) success was assessed during an EC period using the indicator validated by the previous nation-wide evaluation by the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE). Since the valid school assessment was expected to reflect the success in the Entire Craft Assess-ment Period (ECAP), the outcomes were assessed against the criteria of the FNCC and com-pared to the pupils’ school scores. The data was analysed using the Linear Regression Analysis (Enter Method). The central observation was that the pupils’ success in the criteria of the EC do not reflect the 7th grade school scores, in all respects. Moreover, the pupils’ success does not reflect the 6th grade school scores. The instructions and supplementary education of the FNCC criteria are needed for craft teachers, especially for class teachers at the lower level. In Finland, also the craft subject is taught by the class teachers at the lower level while, at the upper level, the subject teachers take their place. According to the new FNCC, the number of class lessons will be diminished at the upper level and increased at the lower level. This might challenge the assessment in the craft subject in basic education. Special attention should be paid to the school assessment in 2016, at the latest, when the new National Core Curriculum comes into force.