Think
back to a time when you attended a craft fair or weekend market.
While walking through the exhibits, you probably noticed artwork that
struck you as extraordinarily creative and beautiful. As you admired
the various works of art, did you think at all about the individual
responsible for the quality handiwork? Perhaps you quickly determined
the craftsperson was a particularly good woodworker or quilter. Interestingly,
we rarely take this line of thinking a step further to consider the
competence with which the artist uses tools of the trade.
Our experience in life affirms that people are differentially talented when it comes to the use of various tools. Some are gifted with a chisel, some with a needle and thread, and some with a computer. Each of us has certain tools with which we feel inherently more comfortable and capable; and conversely, with which we feel terribly uncoordinated. A skillful painter has a creative and visionary mind and a talent with the brush. Artistic knowledge and vision, as well as the talent to create or communicate that knowledge through the use of tools, contribute to the creation of quality art. The same recipe also creates quality work in the classroom.
In the context of teaching and learning, assignments and exams are analogous to a work of art. They communicate a student's knowledge (or vision) as it relates to course material. Furthermore, the structure and requirements of the assessment can be likened to the artist's chest of tools. Like an artist, a student's ability to create quality work is predicated on knowledge of the material and capability with the assessment tool.
How often do we observe student work and judge ability based on
grades from one or two types of assessments (e.g. multiple choice
exams or three page papers)? Yet, we probably rarely stop to consider
if the tool we asked the students to use was one with which they
feel capable or clumsy. It is possible the student has knowledge
and vision about critical course concepts, but the effective communication
of this knowledge is dependent on the student's comfort level with
the required assessment tool.
So it is that students arrive in our classes as individuals with a complex combination of life experience and talents. All of these skills and identities, and their previous experience in schooling, shape their comfort level with specific educational tools. Multicultural teaching and learning practices employ a variety of assessment tools, providing students the opportunity to express themselves in ways both comfortable and uncomfortable. The use of tools with which we are naturally inclined supports the development of positive educational identity while the use of tools with which we feel anxious and uncoordinated may support the development of new skills and an appropriate level of educational humility.