The Use of Self-Assessment in Improving Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Development

Abstract

The use of self-assessment in teacher training has been strongly suggested by researchers because these assessment tasks activate students, motivate them to participate in learning, and cause more oriented and effective learning. This study focuses on using self-assessment in teacher education for the purpose of exploring the benefits of self-assessment practices for the pre-service teachers’ learning process and their professional development. Thirty-eight pre-service teachers participated in this study. Within the context of the study, every participant was supposed to perform a teaching practice by applying teaching methods. Pre-service teachers’ assessed their own performances through a self-assessment form composed of two parts. The first part of this form includes a criteria-based scoring matrix, and the second part includes open-ended written questions. Analyses of the data showed that pre-service teachers perceive themselves as worst at ‘efficient teaching practice’ and best at ‘using body language and gesture effectively’ among the given criteria. When the data obtained from the written questions was analyzed, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers had the most difficulty following the teaching plan. According to the results, it can be argued that by using the self-assessment tasks, pre-service teachers realized their strengths and weaknesses; they recognized that they have difficulties with some competencies required for effective teaching and what they need to improve themselves.