Self-evaluations in adult education and training

Abstract

This paper focuses on two key aspects of self-evaluation in adult education and training through the perspective of (a) a social cognitive framework which is used to categorise those factors that enhance self-efficacy and self-evaluation, and (b) the accuracy of self-evaluation. The social-cognitive framework categorises the factors that enhance self-evaluation, namely, social messages (e.g. comparison with others,feed back from others, social and cultural stereotypes), personal factors (e.g. the ability level of the rater, the standards and goals of the rater) and situational factors (e.g. the content area being evaluated). The paper reviews the accuracy of self-evaluations and concludes (a) that there is prima facie support from previous meta-analyses for their accuracy, (b) that the accuracy of self-evaluations is likely to be underestimated, and (c) that afocus on individual rather than group comparisons may be more usefulfor adult education. The educational value of formative self-evaluation for adult education and training contexts is supported.