Episode 5: Re-Assembling Assessment (Part One)

In this episode, we do things a little bit differently. Karen Wohlwend was unable to join us as we had hoped. Instead, the re-imagining literacies working group took the occasion to meet and talk about our learning so far, how we are constructing meaning around literacies, and wondering about what this means for actions going forward. Like Karen suggests, we too are trying to “play our way into literacies” with this episode. And, like Karen suggests, we think in terms of action and the “messy assemblages” that are created as we re-imagine this work. If our previous episodes have been about undoing, liberating, righting, and decolonizing, we now explore the process of reassembling our understanding of literacies assessment. In preparation for this meeting, the Working Group each received a template for a graphic organizer we called a domino. Each domino was split down the middle—on one side, each Working Group member was invited to contribute a symbol, image, sketch, scene, or visual representation to capture a “big idea” about assessment that has surfaced in our time together. On the other side of the domino, Working Group members added a Word, phrase, sentence, or quotation to correspond with their visual representation. These dominoes aimed to capture what has moved, provoked, challenged, or inspired us in this work so far. The working group then met to discuss these ideas together—the basis for this episode, where the Re-Imagining Literacies Working Group begins the process of ­­reassembling assessment.We used these visual dominoes kind of like the real life dominoes. We posted each domino in Canva, then laid them down one by one, with each member of the working group explaining their thinking and connections. As we added each domino, we connected it to one of the previous dominoes, and, piece by piece, eventually creating one interconnected image of all the dominoes together. The conversation you hear next came as we played together with these ideas, linkages, and wonderings.   Re-Imagining Literacies Assessment is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Re-Imagining Literacies Assessment also acknowledges the support of the University of Manitoba, Brandon University, and The Re-Imagining Literacies Assessment Research Team, special thanks to our guests in this episode, the Re-Imagining Literacies Assessment Working Group-Nicole Trottier, Monica Martens, Jen Tesoro, Bret Schmall, Karen Boyd, Sheila Seafoot, Chris Sarkonak, Barb Isaak, Steve Doell, Jon Sorokowski, and Dave Arbez.  The songs The Ceremony of Innocence (Hyperion Remix), and The Perfect Life by Moby appear courtesy of mobygratis.com. The edited versions of the songs songs 6 Ghosts I, 16 Ghosts 2, 18 Ghosts 2, 21 Ghosts 3, 22 Ghosts 3 by Nine Inch Nails through Creative Commons licensing.  A big thank you to Karen Wohlwend and Jon Wargo for the use of their Youtube video from which Karen’s voice appears in this episode. You can find that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQcON-4Zqqg&t=485s&pp=ygUrZGlnaXRhbCBsaXRlcmFjaWVzIGludGVydmlldyBrYXJlbiB3b2hsd2VuZA%3D%3DAt https://reimagininglitassessment.wordpress.com, you will be able to find all information on Re-Imagining Literacies Assessment, including other writing and podcasts. You can also find us online in most online spaces with the handle reimagininglitassessment