How Can Our Own Histories Help Us Achieve More Authentic Evaluation?: A Paper for Adult Educators.

Adult educators' philosophies of learning and teaching have a major impact on their evaluations of students. The evaluation methods used by adult educators are often incongruent with their apparent teaching-learning philosophies. Effective evaluation must be intricately woven throughout the teaching-learning process. Teachers must look at their own histories and experiences and consider how what they already know as a teacher affects how they will and should evaluate students. Some suggested springboards for reflection are remembering as a learner, remembering as a teacher, and examining personal teaching-learning beliefs. Before evaluating other adults, adult educators must realize that entering a learning situation forces adults who consider themselves competent, self-reliant, and self-directing to relinquish control, surrender to the authority of another adult or institutions, participate in situations where their weaknesses are on public display, and accept criticism from another adult just because that adult holds greater status. Adult educators must consider the evaluative context and ask themselves three questions: Who are the learners? What is the context for evaluating the learners? and Whose interests are controlling the learning content/desired outcome? To be helpful, evaluation must be clear, immediate, regular, accessible, individualized, affirming, future oriented, justifiable, educative, and selective. (MN)