Going Beyond the Scoring Grid: How the Topic of Assessment Can Promote Reflection on Epistemic Beliefs and Agency in History Education

Abstract

An overarching aim of professional development for teachers in history education is to foster a more complex understanding of the discipline. Yet, substantial research underlines the stability of history teachers’ epistemological beliefs, demonstrating the difficulties they experience in shifting from their existing positivist approach to a more critical mindset. Could some contexts be more favorable to enhancing epistemic agency through in-depth reflection? This chapter discusses the potential of examining assessment as a method of encouraging teachers to question their epistemological understanding of history. Based on the results of a study conducted with six Quebec teachers, it illustrates how questioning assessment practices in a collaborative approach creates a space favorable to epistemological wobbling.