The influence of formative assessment practices in promoting 21st Century skills development among secondary school students in Tanzania

2023 IJRSE – Volume 12 Issue 6

Available Online:  31 May 2023

Author/s:

Senjiro, Upendo
Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

Lupeja, Thabita*
Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania (tabithamasele@yahoo.com)

Abstract:

The development of 21st Century skills among students depends much on formative assessment practices employed by classroom teachers. This study explicitly assessed how formative assessment practices develop creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration (4Cs) among students and, how management and administration of formative assessment tools promote the development of 4Cs amongst secondary school students. Interviews and classroom observations were done on 32 geography subject teachers from 10 secondary schools in Morogoro Municipal in Tanzania. The study found that the formative assessment practices in secondary schools do not promote the development of 21st Century skills because the formative assessment tools employed do not facilitate the development of 21st Century skills in students. Moreover, such tools are not well administered and managed in schools. Based on the study observation, the study concludes that the formative assessment practices employed in secondary schools do not influence the development of 21st Century skills in students. The study, therefore, recommends curriculum review and in-service training to secondary school teachers on competence-based assessment tools preparation, management, and administration. Moreover, the secondary education curriculum should be reviewed to give more weight to formative assessment rather than summative.

Keywords: 21st century skills, formative assessment, secondary school, teacher, Tanzania

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2023.29

Cite this article:
Senjiro, U., & Lupeja, T. (2023). The influence of formative assessment practices in promoting 21st Century skills development among secondary school students in Tanzania. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 12(6), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2023.29

* Corresponding Author