Anthropology of Educational Assessment in Social Studies: A Scoping Review of Spirituality and Liminality With Implications for Assessment Practice

Abstract

The anthropology of educational assessment is salient to Social Studies education, considering its inextricable link to societal efforts toward social adaptation, citizenship formation, and cultural continuity. Yet, existing literature on the phenomenon in Social Studies largely reproduces the technical orientation to assessment while failing to capture the anthropology of assessment. This study aimed to map and synthesise literature that conceptualises assessment via anthropological lens, with emphasis on its symbolic significance effect on examinees. Following the methodology outlined by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), this scoping review was conducted and reported in tandem with the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Search was conducted in ERIC, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Google Scholar to identify publications addressing symbolic-spiritual and liminality in educational assessment, published from 2018 to 2025, and in the English language. The researcher developed a data charting form to chart the data. Data analysis was done using thematic synthesis. Out of the 1,428 records identified, 22 were included in the review. The review revealed that high-stakes assessments in Social Studies act as contemporary rites of passage, producing liminal spaces where examinees undergo identity reconstruction, spiritual forage, and collaboration. Key findings emerging from the review include examination often occasions ritualistic behaviours and spiritual responses among learners; liminal experiences through the examination period encompass suspension of identity and temporal disorientation. This leads to the formation of communitas through social inclusion and cultural transmission. The communitas formation is therefore because of how examinees use their liminal feeling to promote co-operative learning among themselves. Hence, liminality, as conceptualised as a transitional pathway, provides a problem space for emergent learning and a developmental space for praxis and capability. Additionally, the review revealed that spirituality highlights measurable attitudes, intelligence, and character development of the learner. The review has anthropological implications that suggest the need for designing assessments that imbue civic values, support identity formation, and target learners within their liminal space.