From prescribed knowledge content to assessment objects: An anthropological analysis of basketball in the third year of secondary school in PORTO-NOVO, BENIN

This study focuses on the problem of discrepancies in knowledge transfer between the intended curriculum content, the content actually taught, and the content assessed through summative evaluation. It examines the case of basketball in a ninth-grade class in Porto-Novo. Concepts drawn from the anthropological theory of didactics (Chevallard, 2018) and the model of assessment practices (Grenier and Beaudoin, 2012) were used to analyze and discuss the results. Following the triangulation framework of Van Der Maren (1996), Amade-Escot (2003), and Paquay (2006), a mixed-methods approach was employed. Document analysis allowed for an assessment of the prescribed curriculum content, a review of existing research on the topic, and the framing of the study's central question. The questionnaire survey involved 25 teachers, while the audiovisual recordings of basketball sessions, combined with pre- and post-session interviews, included one teacher. These methods were selected based on a combination of deliberate and impromptu choices. The results reveal that prescribed knowledge content is not being taught (e.g., fast ball movement), and summative assessment considers both the process and the product, including untaught elements (e.g., long-range shooting, fundamental basketball rules). This teaching practice compromises the objectivity of the assessment and penalizes students. The number of students to observe simultaneously in a dynamic environment, the limited time available, and the high number of criteria are among the difficulties teachers cited regarding summative assessment in basketball. These same difficulties were highlighted by the findings of Atoun, Agbodjogbé, Attiklémè, Oguéboulé, and Kpazaï (2015) on summative assessment in volleyball.