Teacher assessment decision making within a dilemmatic space

The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the tensions and influences on beginner teachers as they learn to make decisions about assessment in an ethical manner. It focuses on the decisions related to summative assessment, made while working in classrooms. Honig’s (1996) concept of dilemmatic space is used as a theoretical framework to highlight the complexity of assessment decision making. Using a qualitative approach, data were gathered through a series of spaced interviews over 20 months in a study that tracked eight beginner secondary teachers through their one-year teacher education programme and the first year of their employment as teachers. They were found to be affected by ever-present ethical pressures and tensions from several sources as they made assessment related decisions. This led to a wide range of actions which were, at varying times, in alignment or in conflict with school expectations and mentor teachers’ instructions.  Their decisions were found to be underpinned by their commitment to encouraging students to remain engaged in learning and their beliefs about equity and fairness. Implications for teacher educators and schools are discussed.