I don't think anyone in teaching thinks teacher assessment isn't important. It's vital. Most teachers also know there are a variety of ways to give feedback and to allow students to progress. That does need to involve teachers reading full pieces of work (including essays) and giving feedback ....but there are a number of ways it can be done.
I am an A Level teacher in an academically selective school teaching an essay based subject mostly at A Level. I mark a lot of essays....but that marking varies. Sometimes I write comments in the margins and a detailed comment at the end. Sometimes I read the essay and have a student version of the levelled markscheme with the different aspects examiners look at and put ticks on that markscheme. Sometimes I have a list of numbered points which reflect all the issues that appear in essays, and I write numbers in the margins. Sometimes students write an essay and I do t read it. I might give out a couple of the same essay from a previous class and we look as a good and a better alongside the markscheme to see what it woukd get and what could be better, before the students mark their own. There are so many different ways to do it. I get great results and often have everyone in the class get A or above.
But I'm not marking every piece and my judgement about how much to mark is influenced by BOTH the fact I know feedback can be as or more effective without marking each essay, but ALSO my workload. So when Cornhill says 'we should not use teacher workload as a reason not to mark student's work' then I'm sorry but I don't agree and can't see how you can say that.
Of course, it would be wrong to do no marking or to give no feedback. But no-one has ever suggested that. But it is right that teachers make a judgement call about all kinds of things. They have to decide how much time to spend planning lessons. They have to decide if they will work on that planning until 9pm each night or keep going until 11pm. They have to decide if they will mark books or essays until 9pm each night or until 11pm each night. And if they decide that they are not goi g to mark a set because that means they wil stop at 9pm rather than 11pm, I would support them in that - it seems a very valid reason not to mark students' work. How could anyone disagree?
So what happens, is that the conscientious teacher thinks about it all carefully. They ensure any reduction that has to happen doesn't all fall on one class. Perhaps across a year, each class has one or two pieces of marking less. Perhaps that's a reduction from 12 pieces to 10 pieces across a year. And the conscientious and good teacher is still making sure that class have feedback, make progress and can approach their exams with confidence and are well-prepared.
But there is a tipping point isn't there. If workload keeps increasing, perhaps that marking has to drop to 9 pieces or to 8. Even with other excellent feedback, there is the need without doubt for teachers to read and give feedback on some essays and some other work periodically. There will be a point, below which, the students do lose out and progress is less. Everyone hopes they do t get to that point, but perhaps some have already and others might.
Can we say 'Teachers shouldn't use workload as a reason not to mark student's work'...what does that mean? Does it mean that if 12 pieces is the optimum, we have to do it, even if it tops us over 60 hours or means working a full day at the weekend as well as every evening? Are you really suggesting there is no limit to the hits worked where marking is concerned? Some might say that teachers need to be more efficient, to save time on planning or other tasks, and then there will be time for the vital marking tasks. But the point is, that every element is squeezed by resourcing. More classes mean more planning is needed. Yet there are finite hours for it. More classes at some point mean less time given to the planning of each class. More classes split between 2 teachers because the timetable is so tight due to finances, and cannot accommodate just 1 teacher teaching a class, means more classes and more planning. Again, unless you're prepared to keep increasing your already high hours, something has to give....planning, marking.....certainly not the admin that's non-negotiable and needs to be submitted. If funds in a school are tight and less teachers are employed, everyone might be asked to give more time to extra curricular, taking up another lunchtime. That's less time for marking, or it means another half hour in the evening. In an independent school it might be people being asked to do another duty, or to take more fixtures at the weekend, or to see more parents for 1-2-1 meetings after school - all of it means either doing more hours to do the marking and planning, or doing less of it.
So should teachers have a totally open-ended approach to work, because their students 'deserve' X amount of marking and planning? That's what it sounds like some people are suggesting.