Action research for self-evaluation of teaching

Abstract

This article discusses how and why engaging in teacher action research might offer language teachers an effective tool for self-directed formative evaluation of their own teaching, and how reflection on often unspoken and unacknowledged challenges could be an opportunity for bottom-up performance assessment to replace top-down judgmental forms of evaluation. External and institutional evaluations may lead teachers to taking a stance, emphasising their stronger aspects and downplaying weaker ones. How-ever, engaging in teacher action research could facilitate their acknowledgment of challenges in teaching, as they tend to problematise those pedagogical issues deemed to be critical for their own professional development. Surveying published research papers by language teachers for professional development, we focus on topic selection, and the possibilities these publications may have for language teacher self-assessment in the topics focused on. Then, we interview action researchers who have published over the last 3-4 years to elicit their views on how, over time, they identified problematic areas. This article offers a new perspective, emphasising the role of action research for self-evaluation of teaching. © 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.