Proper self-evaluation as a way of professional improvement

Introduction

The research focused on the skills of recognizing oneself as a representative of a given social group and teachers’ self-cognition which can influence their self-evaluation skill. One of the most important consequences of the ability of proper self-evaluation is auto-correction, that is an improvement of (an action) performance, which (in course of events) alters the didactic process. In the research teachers from selected schools of the Silesian province took part. The methods of research employed in the present work comprised: an observation and an estimation method. In addition, the video technology was used.

Methods

The mentioned investigative course concentrates on utilizing video as a factor which modifies teacher’s self-evaluation. The method consists of the three following stages:
1) Teacher’s first self-evaluation.
2) Recording the teacher during the lesson.
3) Teacher’s second evaluation.
For self-evaluation a special sheet prepared by the author of this paper was used.

Results

Special attention was paid to the differences in the teacher’s self - evaluation before and after watching the video. To mark the differences two aspects included in the teacher’s self-evaluation were taken into account: the way of conducting the lesson and the relation to the pupils. The marks given by the teachers to themselves in the process of self-evaluation after having watched the film were lower. The examined teachers became more critical after they had watched their actual lessons
Discussion/Conclusions
1. Self-observation allows for self-recognizing as a PE teacher.
2. There were differences in self-evaluation of women and men before and after watching the video.
3. There were differences in self-evaluation before and after watching the video in teachers with shorter and longer seniority.
The results have confirmed the author’s expectations - namely that just a single video presentation of a lesson conducted by the investigated teachers causes the decrease in their self-evaluation. It induces a deeper reflection on the teachers’ efficiency. That is why a video camera has become a tool for scientists participating in this area of research. We can stand face to face with ourselves; we can watch ourselves in particular situations and decide whether we are perfect or could be better.

References

[1]. Kozielecki J. (1981). Psychologiczna teoria samowiedzy. Warszawa, PWN
[2]. Niebrzydowski L. (1976) O poznawaniu i ocenie samego siebie. Warszawa, NK
[3]. McDonald T. (1998) Direct and Televisio-Mediated Observation of Verbal Interaction in the Classroom [in:] W. [4]. Strykowski (ed.) Media a Edukacja 2, pages 145-151, Poznań, eMPi²