Student Engagement and Student Self-assessment: the REAL Framework

This article proposes that there are strong theoretical and practical connections between student engagement and student self-assessment. The idea is that deeper levels of student self-assessment are critical aspects of pedagogical processes aiming to encourage students to be substantively engaged in their classroom learning experiences. This argument was developed in the Fair Go Project, action research into student engagement among low SES primary school students in Sydney’s South West. The project establishes links between student engagement and student self-assessment within a particular conceptualisation of the relationships students have with schools and education.