Abstract
In December 2020, the Italian Ministry of Education adopted a new assessment modality based on predominantly discursive communication and the abolition of numerical grades. This modality was introduced to incentivise greater equality and support students in becoming aware of how they reach their learning goals (Girelli, 2022). Italian legislation from the 1970s to the present day emphasises that assessment is an essential element in the development of students' personal identity; however, the link between these two concepts seems to remain unexplored.
This research aims to contribute to this gap by investigating the relationship between formative assessment and aspirational development of some primary school pupils in three classrooms in northern Italy. With some primary school teachers of the Movimento di Cooperazione Educativa (the Italian movement inspired by Celestin Freinet's pedagogy), we developed qualitative and exploratory research involving 25 pupils aged between eight and ten. The aim of the research is to understand, on the one hand, their aspirations and, on the other hand, their conception of assessment. For the first purpose, a tool from the field of psychology called "the tree of life" (Ncube, 2006) was used, which helps students to talk about their past, present and future. As for the second purpose, some specific assessment tools were analysed, namely self-assessment, peer assessment, end-of-year report cards and letters written by teachers.
The capability approach framework provides an essential contribution to developing this research thesis. In recent decades, many capabilitarians have focused on the topic of education on the one hand (Brighouse & Unterhalter, 2010; Hart & Brando, 2018; Nussbaum, 2010; Walker, 2020), and aspirations on the other (Hart, 2013, 2016; Laruffa & Bonvin, 2023; Leßman, 2024; Zimmerman, 2023). Furthermore, a large majority of studies conducted on formative assessment focus almost exclusively on learning. In this research, assessment is regarded as an emancipatory and functional tool for realising the beings and doings that students have reason to value (Sen, 1992, 1999; Robeyns, 2017). Therefore, recognising the views of the individuals involved in the research typical of the capability approach proves to be an essential contribution to this PhD thesis. Finally, this research aims to overcome a view of education excessively focused on the concept of competence, as has been the case in Europe in recent decades. The concept of capability is a valuable possibility here. With the advent of competence pedagogy, assessment has begun to consider both what students know and what they can do with what they know. The capability approach can now offer an important contribution by adding to this perspective a reconstruction of what they want to do with what they know, i.e. what beings and doings they have reason to value.