Constructing subjectivities and futures in the assemblages of assessment in guidance counselling

Assessment constitutes a central element in students’ schooling. Assessment can also influence young people’s perceptions of themselves and their future orientations. However, there is relatively little research on assessment as experienced by young people and as part of their everyday school life.

The core idea of the AssemblEd project is to investigate assessment ethnographically within students’ everyday school lives. We focus especially on the role of assessment in guidance counselling, where students reflect on themselves and their future choices. In Finland, guidance counselling is a mandatory school subject governed by the curriculum.

Assessment is typically understood as a technique demonstrating learning outcomes—for example, through grades—or as a pedagogical tool to support learning. In this study, however, we examine the significance of assessment and feedback for students’ self-understanding and their futures, including educational and career choices. As part of the research, we will interview students, guidance counsellors, teachers, and principals about their experiences and views on student assessment. We also examine various material elements—such as learning materials, self-assessment forms, and digital learning environments—and how they shape students’ self-understandings and future orientations at the intersection of assessment and guidance counselling. The project additionally analyses national, local, and school-level documents and curricula governing assessment, and how assessment policies constructed in these documents are experienced and lived in the students’ everyday school lives.

The study will be conducted in three schools in different parts of Finland between 2026 and 2028.