Investigating Teacher Assessment Practices in the Teaching of Social Studies in Malawian Primary Schools

This study investigated teacher continuous assessment (CA) practices in the teaching of social studies in Malawian primary schools. This was a qualitative case study of eight primary school teachers using classroom observation, in-depth interview and document analysis. The results revealed dominant use of continuous testing practices in form of paper and pencil tests. In addition, the assessment tasks did not support higher level of thinking as learners were not challenged by the nature of questions and activities given. Furthermore, the frequency of tasks and use of CA results aligned more to summative function than formative function as propagated by the curriculum. The implication of the findings is that the reform regarding CA in the Primary School Curriculum and Assessment Reform (PCAR) remains symbolic. If teacher CA practice is to support learning in line with the demands of PCAR, there is need to address teacher assessment literacy.