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Roszalina Binte Rawi, Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeAbstract
Assessment for Learning (AfL) has been widely recognised as a powerful pedagogical approach that promotes student agency, deeper learning, and formative feedback. Yet, the effective enactment of AfL practices often encounters significant barriers at the classroom level. This study investigates the challenges faced by teachers in implementing AfL in Malay language classrooms within Singapore primary schools. Drawing on survey responses and classroom observation data, the research identifies key obstacles that hinder teachers’ ability to fully integrate AfL principles into their daily practice. Findings reveal that barriers operate at multiple levels: structural constraints such as curriculum pacing and assessment demands; pedagogical challenges including limited expertise in designing AfL strategies; and cultural factors, where classroom norms and student expectations influence teachers’ practices. To analyse these barriers, the study employs Lewin’s Change Theory as a conceptual lens. Lewin’s model of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing provides a useful framework for understanding how groups—rather than individuals—experience and respond to change. By situating teachers within a broader system of expectations, accountability, and cultural practices, this framework highlights how the process of adopting AfL is shaped not only by teacher willingness but also by the collective readiness of schools and classrooms to embrace change. The paper argues that supporting teachers in overcoming these barriers requires systemic alignment across policy, school culture, and professional learning. Without addressing these contextual dynamics, AfL risks being enacted superficially rather than meaningfully embedded in classroom practice.
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