OJC assesses student progress through students developing their understanding of and making connections to the Learning Areas of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). The Learning Journey, as narrative assessment, and digital badging at OJC provide pathways for students to complete a graduate profile. Junior years (year 7-8) target curriculum level 4 and senior years (year 9-10) target curriculum level 5; with differentiation provided for learners working outside of these target boundaries.

At a set milestones and timeframes over a school year, students complete learning journeys of curated evidence that show connections to a set of criteria that align to a digital badge. The criteria is taken from achievement objectives in the NZC as well as the key competencies: thinking, relating to others, using language, symbols & texts, managing self and participating and contributing (core skills and dispositions that support learning). Students make connections about where they have met the specific badge criteria in the badge from multiple learning experiences across OJC learning programmes for example: MAC, Whānau Ora, Literacy & Numeracy LABs and TAIP. The learning journeys are uploaded to our student management system, HERO, and are a form of digital portfolio that parents can see, ‘live’ and in real-time, at any time, showing on-going progress that students collate and continually reflect upon. 

Once these are completed badge bidding occurs in MAC or TAIP groups. Students select badges that align with the skills and deeper content learning from an inquiry project e.g. Technology or Science or Health & Physical Education. 

Students are learning to make connections across different learning areas as well, seeing different perspectives, so will look for evidence of learning in literacy, or The Arts or a criteria/disposition/key competency to show a transdisciplinary understanding of learning that connects across the curriculum areas. 

Students are also encouraged to choose projects and learning experiences which target specific badges to obtain coverage and mapping/tracking of all areas of the NZC. 

Students bid for a badge at one of three sub-levels: Emerging, Effective or Exemplary (this mirrors the language of NCEA achievement outcome levels of Achievement, Merit, Excellence). A group of fellow students and their teacher (called a Learning Coach, and usually their own MAC) listen to the badge pitch, look at the evidence related to the criteria and make a decision about what level the badge is to be awarded at. The levels are awarded based on whether students are developing a basic understanding of the criteria, are able to recall/describe what they did (emerging), explain what they learned and have a detailed understanding of the criteria (effective) and have a deeper understanding which is demonstrated by making connections, applying and analysing their learning (exemplary). 

Assessing in this way builds students’ evaluative capabilities (self and peer assessment), allows students to improve metacognitive skills (reflecting and self-determining next steps). OECD (Organisation for Economic Growth and Development) research identifies these as particularly pivotal developmental skills and stages that support future success in further learning and 21stC skills and dispositions influencing the future of educational reform both here in NZ and globally. OJC aligns with best assessment practices and has had the opportunity to share our student success at various education and technology/business sector conferences including the NZAI (New Zealand Assessment Institute) and the NZQA (New Zealand Qualifications Authority). 

Our aim is to build students’ capacity to recognise their strengths and dispositions and use these to develop strong self-assessment capabilities. 

Narrative assessment & Learning Journeys: 

Narrative assessment is the process of students capturing and documenting how and what they are learning in and through authentic, real-world contexts, and recording their progress over time in a descriptive way. Curation, or the documentation of learning, happens through observation, collecting evidence (such as pictures/photos, witness testimony, expert endorsement), in writing or through pictures and videos. 

The narrative written by the student includes details of what was learnt through a series of identified milestones, and is a personal reflection on why this was important, as well as what the next steps in the learning sequence might be. 

A description of how the assessed learning links to the NZC adds strength to the description, through describing the processes used and the progress that has been made. 

In contrast with other assessment methods, such as tests, narrative assessment recounts the learning events within and beyond school settings, and goes beyond a simple description of learning. “It captures the people, places, and things of relevance that take place in the different learning contexts. It identifies the ways in which learning has been noticed, recognised, and responded to.” Narrative assessment is bound by the timeframe in which the learning takes place; and is able to reflect values, cultures, and ways of being. 

Narrative assessment is respectful of learners and supports the construction of learner identities as capable and competent people. 

It contributes towards closing the gaps between what the learners are doing and the teacher’s intentions for that activity, which in turn supports the strengthening of power within, and power for, relationships. 

Unlike more traditional assessment methods, such as a summative-testing approach, narrative assessment makes personal perspectives or interpretations visible. The voice of the student is obvious rather than hidden, and it celebrates the strengths and successes of each student. More often than not, narrative assessment leads those involved to respond in some way to the insights of the learner or learners, further informing and supporting the learning and teaching process. 

At OJC learning journeys capture the students’ learning with evidence collected during a set timeframe from across all areas of the local school curriculum. The process captures learning along the way through set milestones, rather than just at an endpoint. Students are expected to talk to peers and/or their teachers about learning experiences and make the link between the evidence they had collected and curriculum objectives within the different learning areas they believed they had achieved. Each individual learning journey completed by students is linked to a set of digital badges which form the basis of our OJC Graduate Profile, which contain descriptors of, and are connected with, different learning areas within the NZC. 

Digital Badging: 

Digital badging is a digital representation of having achieved a set of criteria related to a badge that is visual. Digital badging is a relatively innovative approach in education that brings a new perspective to the components of learning. Research recognises the clear links between digital badges and achievements, with badges awarded when students have demonstrated their competence at different levels of achievement. 

OJC digital badges were created through generating criteria, based on dispositions, key competencies and achievement objectives from primarily Level 4 and 5 of the learning areas in the New Zealand curriculum document. Students are required to demonstrate how they meet the badge criteria before they are awarded it. Students bid for a badge by presenting the evidence they have collected/curated in their learning journeys to a group of their peers and a teacher. 

Once the student finishes his/her bidding, a discussion occurs between all parties to decide whether the badge criteria had been met and at what level it had been met. The badge levels are differentiated and described at emerging, effective or exemplary levels, mirroring the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Once a consensus is reached, the student is awarded the badge at the agreed level. This develops a certain level of capability by students to self-assess and to peer assess their own work. Recent research into digital badging has shown positive results with student engagement, motivation and self-efficacy. 

Digital badging is a way of acknowledging how the students’ assessment capability has developed as students start to recognise that self-assessment is important in the process of learning. Justifying and explaining learning is a complex skill that will enable students to grow. 

In tertiary education this type of explanation usually occurs at advanced levels of achievement. 

We believe students who develop their capabilities at OJC will set themselves up for success later in life.