Opening dialogic spaces: Teachers' metatalk on writing assessment

- Collegial discussions on assessment stimulates teachers' professional development.
- Metalinguistic knowledge and concepts are key factors in identifying text qualities.
- A functional writing construct represents a valuable resource in assessing texts.
- Interaction strategies involving inquiring, opposing and challenging are profitable.

This article reports on a qualitative study of teachers' collegial discussions on assessment of students' texts, focusing on how they use assessment tools, argue and interact. The data consists of two sets of collaborative dialogues collected within a large-scale project on writing and assessment in Norwegian primary schools. Findings indicate that the teachers are moving from an instrumental approach towards a more functional and integrated understanding of the students' texts. There are, however, great variations in how the teachers take advantage of the tools. This is partly explained through different interaction strategies opening up varying spaces for dialogic cooperation and joint assessment. The article argues for collegial discussions on writing assessment as stimulating environments for teachers' professional learning.