Formative assessment for adults

I offered some professional learning last week and we were discussing monitoring and oversight. It came up in the discussion how many terms have negative associations in education. Let’s take for example, monitoring. Most people do not like to be monitored, or evaluated. However, these steps offer key insights into what is taking place with an initiative. The process itself is not intended to offer blame or catch someone doing the wrong thing.

We then discussed how important it is for the adult learning process to also be formative. We spend a lot of time focusing on the formative process for students, but often we look past the concept that when we begin a new initiative, the learning process for adults should be formative also. Learning and applying a new concept does not function like a light switch. If it is a behavior, it is a process. Ideally, the person receives feedback about the behavior in order to improve.

When we think about monitoring and oversight, we should apply the formative process to the adult learning as well. First, intentionally define time to observe the practices that are anticipated. Second, offer feedback about those practices. Discuss ways to refine or improve. Then, allow space for the behavior to evolve before observing again. Remember, the learning process is an evolution without a clear start and end.