Två yrkeslärares berättelser om bedömningshandlingar på industritekniska programmet

The focus of this study is on two vocational teachers´ stories of grade assessment. The teachers are Leif and Johnny, who teach in the industrial technology programme in two different upper secondary schools in Sweden. The research method we use in the study is life stories. From the vocational teachers’ stories emerge different categories of assessment criteria that show different considerations, as compared to the national knowledge requirements, when grading students with one of the five pass grades. The categories for passing grades are: the grade awarded as a prize rating, the grade awarded as being an okay-guy, the grade awarded in advance, and the grade awarded as a last chance. The categories show that the vocational teachers Leif and Johnny, in their assessment documents, do not always comply with the requirements that the syllabus and steering documents put on the knowledge assessment. Leif and Johnny use different forms of knowledge measurements when grading their students with passing grades. The forms are based on their social relations with their students.