Trouble in paradise: Self-assessment and the Tao

In this article I outline how and why I have established a self-assessment system for class participation scores in an English-speaking skills course at a Japanese university. I explain how my experience with one particular student, who personally admitted to having abused the system, led me to realize that elements from Yin and Yang have been playing an important part in my beliefs as a teacher, helping me to improve my self-assessment system and further reflect on my practice. Narrative inquiry is employed as both the primary means of collecting and analysing data, although as this is Exploratory Practice inquiry I triangulate my narrative using other sources arising from pedagogically generated materials and my own teaching journal. Through this inquiry I came to realize that sometimes bad experiences and overcoming difficulties can actually become good learning experiences if the right attitude is employed. In trying to deal with one particularly problematic student I was able to identify problems with the design of my assessment system, and thus make changes which improved the course for all participants. I believe I was more reflexive and alert to these improvements because of the Exploratory Practice inquiry that I was conducting. I was also able to identify how I placed special emphasis on issues of trust and taking responsibility, which I now recognize as having been central justifications for designing the self-assessment system in the first place.