Vignette 1 - descriptive vignette

Pure description, judgement-free

It was a rainy Wednesday morning, and I came into the Year 7 classroom with a smile
as usual. “Are you all ready for the quiz?” I asked the class.
“Not yet!” Almost the whole he class shouted back.

“No worries, you now have 10 minutes for revision. We are doing a quiz on chapter
1.” Hearing my words, most students turned their textbooks on page 10 and started
revising. Yet one boy seemed reluctant to do so as I saw him doing nothing.

“Hey John,” I walked near him, giving him a smile to indicate that I was waiting for
him to go over the chapter. “Chapter 1, time to revise, thank you.” I then continued
browsing around the classroom to check whether there were other students off-task.
21 out of 22 students had their eyes fixed on the textbooks and I could hear pages
turning from almost everyone except this little boy. He didn’t even take his book out
of his bag as I saw his book remained “sleeping” in his green schoolbag.

I squatted down near his desk and said with a voice that perhaps only two of us could
hear. “Please, John, we have quiz today, please focus on your chapter 1 now.” My
supervisor also approached his desk and repeated my command. “Do as she said.
Textbook ready, chapter 1. Karin has already told you what to do clearly. I don’t want
to be mad at you, so do it NOW.” Still, John failed to cooperate and started to scream:
“No! I CAN’T do it!”

“I am now getting angry because you didn’t do as I said. Now I am going to call your
dad.” My supervisor’s face seemed red. John started to scream and hurt himself by
kowtowing: “No! Please! Not my dad! Miss, I beg you!”

To prevent him further hurting himself, I hurried pulled him up from the floor. As I
did so, he repeatedly said, “Not my dad” and “I beg you” and started to kick me.
Throughout the whole process he gave up working towards any goals since my
supervisor ignored his situation and kept going the quiz.

Vignette 2 - comparative vignette

Point of focus exploring, no conclusion needed

In my first vignette, I described a situation of a boy who showed his unwillingness

towards the quiz assigned in the class even he was informed what to do despite
multiple attempt. A key issue to be explored from this situation seems to be the
negative attitude towards assessment perceived by the students. I will now
consider how the lenses of school structure, motivation and wellbeing reveal
further into this central issue.
1. Understanding the negative attitude towards assessment perceived by the students
from the perspective of school structure

School is not solely about the conveyance and transmission of knowledge, and it does
more than serving as an educational institution. Bourdieu defines schooling as a
social institution, where people involved behave through acknowledging rules
through the daily routine of logical practice and through distribution of resources
from materials, symbols and culture so that everyone’s competing interests seem to
be negotiated and balanced (Bourdieu, 1984 as cited in Thomson, 2002, p.5).
Meanwhile school is not just about how competing interest could be settled, but it is
also about how to support individuals at a relational level (Thapa et al., 2013; Parker
et al., 2016) so that entities engaged could be nourished and nurtured.

However, much of the criticism of schools focuses on standard agenda, which means
the prevalence of standardised tests among schools may cause teachers and students
to question the use of assessments. (So a potential tension may take place here - are
teachers actually teaching skills and qualities that facilitate students to get prepared
for future life and career, or merely for the assessment? And for the students, are they
really learning and what can they learn from assessment? These issues worth
pondering deeper in further analysis.)

2. Understanding the negative attitude towards assessment perceived by the students

from the perspective of motivation

Student motivation is a complicated discourse as it is affected by multiple factors

such as school climate, teacher-student relationship, task type and difficulty, personal
belief, gender, age, social economic status and so on (Martin, 2007; Munns & Martin,
2005). According to research, motivation is either triggered by external factors (e.g.,
rewards, prizes) or stimulated through inner determinants (e.g., passion, interests, self-
efficacy) (Saeed & Zyngier, 2012; Deci et al., 2001). Also considering motivation is
about how one can navigate himself or herself towards the assigned tasks, the tension
between motivation and engagement seems more evident and tightened and that’s
where the dilemma comes through. Teachers may feel motivated to assign tests for
students to check their understanding and acquire information about further teaching
routine, whilst the students may feel lacking motivation to contribute to the tests
because some may find it hard, boring or pointless to do so (Graham, 2016). (Thus it
makes me wonder - can we as preservice teachers promote student motivation via
assessment and how?)

3. Understanding the negative attitude towards assessment perceived by the students

from the perspective of wellbeing

Student wellbeing is another complex perspective to explore because it is more likely

to be an umbrella term that consists of physical, social, mental and emotional states
that one feels (Student Wellbeing Guide for Schools, 2020). It is crucially vital
because it has profound influence on student motivation and engagement because if
one has positive wellbeing he/she may manage to navigate him/herself towards a
task in an optimistic mood and with self-efficacy despite the challenges he/she may
be confronting. This echoes with McLaughlin citing DfES/Department for Education
and Skills’ work where wellbeing centres on “being healthy, staying safe, enjoying
and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being”
(DfES 2003, as cited in McLaughlin 2008, p.354). However, high-stakes testing can
have inverse impact on promoting positive wellbeing by the students such as stress
and depression (Simpson, 2016). (Thus this makes me wonder - can assessment
encourage student wellbeing and how?)

Vignette 3 - critical vignette

Broader implications explored, provide alternative actions

Continue exploring deeper down from vignette 2, there are certainly rooms of
improvement to somehow alter the situation described in vignette 1.

The first factor to be considered could be the overall design of assessment. It seems
purely from vignette 1 the teacher took the lead in this assessment assigned whilst the
students had no alternative options except showing their compliance and finishing
the quiz. So instead of roughly viewing the boy’s seemingly disobedience as some
sort of “disengagement”, I may view it as lacking room for student voice towards
assessment. The boy’s action somehow shows his unwillingness towards the task, as
preservice teachers like us should neither necessarily push (force) him, shame him
further in this scenario as it may violate student wellbeing (so is student motivation
and engagement which is hampered also) (Goodman & Cook, 2019; Martin & Collie,
2018), nor should we sort of “abandoning” him in the rest of the class period because
either may work as counter-effect towards re engaging the student at a relational level
and may worsen teacher-student relationship when the teacher “left him alone” as if
marginalising him from the whole class. Alternative actions could be assigning
different tasks for him (e.g., a personalised one if possible) and asking him why he
felt so after class rather than roughly let go and pay no further attention to his
following behaviour. Furthermore, student voice could be collected as evidence to
instruct future teaching as student perceptions towards assessments (e.g., difficulty,
what they still want to figure out next) and it could be rather vital component to guide
teachers to implement adaptability to accomodate their various learning needs
(Vaughn et al., 2016; Groves & Welsh, 2010; Van Petegem et al., 2007).

What’s more, looking through the scope of school structure, restorative practice could
be some remedy to fix the situation in school wide as a whole. Though it’s not easy
process, researchers point out recognising and identifying the root of conflicts are
proved to be more effective than apologising and providing prompted reflection
(Carter, 2013). School will also benefit from this restorative practice because if
schools consider amending its practice as a whole entity can help shape and enhance
educators’ resilience in dealing with situations like this because fostering close and
supportive teacher-student relationship may lower risks and rates of school dropout.
This is to say, restorative practice could work to strengthen school wellbeing as a
whole (Obiakor, 2010; Parker et al., 2016; McCluskey et al., 2008).

Vignette 4 - peer reflection vignette

Peer’s vignette provided here

Reading Karin’s Vignettes has been a clarifying experience for me - Vignette 1 was a
fantastic ‘short story’ snap shot into a classroom moment. The concise exploration
within the second Vignette into School Structures, Motivation and Well-being
unpacked the central issue of understanding attitudes towards assessment.
Considering Vignette 3 has helped better shape my understanding of the competing
elements of school structure, and its impact on student Motivation and Wellbeing.
I am more aware of the necessity for adaptability of thinking in teaching through this
reading.

This vignette writing has reminded me of the vitality found in a Community of

Teaching Practice and the foundation of support it provides. Being within community
of practice has allowed me to cogitate on my tendency to over-complicate
assignments. I’m more aware of the amount of reading I undertake and how I
synthesise as I prepare to write. This helps me to reflect more specifically on time
management, essay preparation and construction; fundamental skills to engage with
and develop in my MTeach journey toward becoming a teacher. These reflections
also build my depth of understanding of teaching as a relational practice.

As Britzman stated teaching must be rendered problematic. So when reflecting on the

central issues of student attitudes to assessment through the lens of Motivation and
Well-being the problematic nature of pedagogical choice is stark. However student
attitudes to assessment can be more deeply understood and the complex
interrelationships of School Structures is made plain. The implications of these issues
will shift from context to context, form classroom to classroom and I will need to
remain openminded to their impact in my own developing practice as a teacher.

Vignette 5 - meta reflection

Reflecting on how I approach the vignettes as a whole process

Thinking back on the journey all the way from the beginning, I feel my understanding
towards professional learning is deepened through various ways.

Looking solely at vignette 1, the descriptive vignette, it essentially asked us to

describe what is happening in the situation, free of judgement and prejudice.
However it’s rather challenging as it is almost inevitable to confront our biases or
defend our stance when we tried to interpret the situations in our own words, which
may blur our vision towards capturing the whole picture and complexities behind
(Jay & Johnson, 2002). Therefore stepping the first step back away from critiques and
conclusions definitely help kick start of the process.

Turning to comparative and critical vignettes, engaging with various perspectives yet
leaving the conclusions aside is also a significant procedure since for now we may
not necessarily acquire sufficient information, knowledge or evidence collected from
research about what was going on in the descriptions presented. Research may find
making pedagogical decisions tough, because Thus it’s also beneficial to gather some
“proof” from research to aid the reflection process, which means we may not learn
directly from experiences, but the way we reflect on the experiences (Senese, 2017;
Dewey, 1933).

Furthermore, reading through Sam’s reflection reminds me again that teaching

practice, or education in broader terms, is never a voyage of one single individual
alone but rather, of a whole community that can make a difference. By collaborating
with people with various mindset and remaining open mindedness , one can think
more thoroughly and mature when coping with the similar or distinct plots in their
lives.

To sum up in brief, the overall progress of constructing all these vignettes has
broaden my horizon to some extent as a preservice teacher, where one can stand back
and forth to ponder situations in various manners, from without criticising what’s
happening, towards reflections which guide new actions and potentials, and
eventually embracing the thinking routine as it flows. There may never be “fail” in
this sort of exercise, as it is always the abbreviation for first attempt in learning.

Reference
Carter, C. C. (2013). Restorative practices as formal and informal education. Journal
of Peace Education, 10(1), 36–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2012.721092
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (2001). Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic
motivation in education: Reconsidered once again. Review of Educational Research,
71(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543071001001
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the reflective thinking to the
educative process. Heath.
Goodman, J. F., & Cook, B. I. (2019). Shaming school children: A violation of
fundamental rights? Theory and Research in Education, 17(1), 62–81. https://doi.org/
10.1177/1477878518817377
Graham, L. J. (2016). ‘schoolwork’ and ‘teachers’: Disaffected boys talk about their
problems with school. Challenging Dominant Views on Student Behaviour at School,
115–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0628-9_8
Groves, R., & Welsh, B. (2010). The high school experience: What students say.
Informit. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/
10.3316/aeipt.182763.
Jay, J. K., & Johnson, K. L. (2002). Capturing complexity: A typology of reflective
practice for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(1), 73–85.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0742-051x(01)00051-8
Martin, A. J. (2007). Enhancing student motivation and engagement: The effects of a
multidimensional intervention. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(2), 239–
269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.11.003
Martin, A. J., & Collie, R. J. (2019). Teacher–student relationships and students’
engagement in high school: Does the number of negative and positive relationships
with teachers matter? Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(5), 861–876. https://
doi.org/10.1037/edu0000317
McCluskey, G., Lloyd, G., Kane, J., Riddell, S., Stead, J., & Weedon, E. (2008). Can
restorative practices in schools make a difference? Educational Review, 60(4), 405–
417. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131910802393456
McLaughlin, C. (2008). Emotional well-being and its relationship to schools and
classrooms: A critical reflection. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 36(4),
353–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880802364486
Munns, G., & Martin, A. J. (2005). It’s All About MeE: A Motivation and
Engagement Framework. SemanticScholar. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/It%27s-all-about-MeE-%3A-a-motivation-
and-engagement-Munns-Martin/fcd1964510327cb1905c8ab901ee7a858a2ecff9.
Obiakor, F. E. (2010). School Dropout Prevention. ScienceDirect. https://doi.org/
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-044894-7.01120-9
Parker, R., Rose, J., & Gilbert, L. (2016). Attachment aware schools: An alternative
to behaviourism in supporting children’s behaviour? The Palgrave International
Handbook of Alternative Education, 463–483. https://doi.org/
10.1057/978-1-137-41291-1_30
Saeed, S., & Zyngier, D. (2012). How motivation influences student engagement: A
qualitative case study. Journal of Education and Learning, 1(2). https://doi.org/
10.5539/jel.v1n2p252
Senese, J. C. (2017). How do I know what I think I know? teaching reflection to
improve practice. Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, 103–117.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3431-2_6
Simpson, C. (2016). Effects of standardized testing on students' well-being . Docslib.
Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://docslib.org/doc/10041349/effects-of-
standardized-testing-on-students-well-being-christina
Student Wellbeing Guide for Schools. Brainstorm Productions. (2022, December).
https://www.brainstormproductions.edu.au/student-wellbeing-guide-for-schools/.
Thapa, A., Cohen, J., Guffey, S., & Higgins-D’Alessandro, A. (2013). A review of
School Climate Research. Review of Educational Research, 83(3), 357–385. https://
doi.org/10.3102/0034654313483907
Thomson, P. (2002). Vicki and Thanh. In Schooling the rustbelt kids: Making the
difference in changing times (pp. 1–19). essay, Allen & Unwin. Retrieved December
5, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
305061506_Schooling_the_Rustbelt_Kids_Making_the_difference_in_changing_tim
es.
Van Petegem, K., Aelterman, A., Rosseel, Y., & Creemers, B. (2006). Student
perception as moderator for student wellbeing. Social Indicators Research, 83(3),
447–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-9055-5
Vaughn, M., Parsons, S. A., Burrowbridge, S. C., Weesner, J., & Taylor, L. (2016). In
their own words: Teachers' reflections on adaptability. Theory Into Practice, 55(3),
259–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2016.1173993