Abstract
M.Ed.
South Africa is entering a period of dramatic change in the way
schools are run. New legislation is pointing South Africa
strongly in the direction of a new school based system of
management. On the other hand, various pilot studies are being
conducted in some schools so as to investigate the correct
assessment criteria which can be implemented successfully for the
improvement of quality education. The problem is that the
traditional assessment criteria which has been implemented by
principals is being criticised by some teachers unions in such
a way that in some black schools, the teachers' workbooks are no
longer submitted to the administrators for evaluation.
As this study examines the management implications of teacher
self-assessment, the majority of teachers agree that the latter
is helpful in the identifications of their strengths and
weaknesses so that some rectifications of mistakes can be made.
In this regard, the purpose of this study is to encourage
teachers to participate in the school management so that the
standard of education can improve.
However, the researcher has discovered that the success of selfassessment
depends on the teachers' commitment and honesty.
Furthermore, the implementation of self-assessment can be
achieved if teachers are satisfied with their needs in the school
situation. In this regard, if the school is democratically
managed, teachers can be easily motivated to'assess themselves
because they are free to express themselves. Additionally,
teachers can succeed in assessing themselves if communication and
relationship are good among all stakeholders in the school
situation.
Never-the-less, sound self-assessment requires teachers who are
willing to participate and who are capable of using assessment
information in planning instructions. In this study, it has been
highlighted that although self-assessment is regarded as the best
management tool in improving the teachers' teaching skills for better performance, it is not formally and structurally
implemented in most schools.
Therefore, it is very significant that principals should play a
major role in encouraging teachers to implement self-assessment
by organising in-service training in which they will be advised
how they can succeed in implementing it.