Personal Self-Assessments

Personal Self-Assessments. 

 

Self-Assessment #1:  TELSA Self Assessment

 

The TELSA Self Assessment is a complicated and involved assessment tool that asks users to rate certain tasks in the areas of difficulty, importance and frequency for each task listed. Tasks are broken up into ten areas of leadership responsibility, and after completing the assessment users calculate each of the task’s scores and find the average for each area of responsibility.  Using a given scale, users are then able to rate the priority (low, medium or high) of their need for development in these areas.

 

The TELSA was the most difficult of all the assessments, because the user is asked to predict his or her ability to perform a task, rate the importance of the task and determine the frequency of how often that task is performed, regardless of whether the user has ever performed the task or not.  However, I feel I was able to competently make the majority of those predictions based on observations of our school leaders. Additionally, I enlisted the help of one of those leaders for those tasks with which I was unfamiliar.

 

According to the results of my assessment, my lowest area of required development is in the area of using technology to communicate.  This was not a surprising result, since I teach technology classes and use technology every day to communicate with students, parents, peers and leaders.  I was surprised at the inclusion of some of the older technologies, however, such as operating a slide projector or overhead projector, the former of which I have never operated in my life, and the latter of which I have not used in more than fifteen years.  

 

The area of highest developmental need was almost equally divided into two sections: the area of performing budgetary and other administrative duties, and the area of performing staff-related administrative duties.  This was also not surprising since I am seldom asked to perform many of the tasks listed.  However, I feel the staff-related administrative duties would rely heavily on interpersonal skills, so would be lower in difficulty to perform than the budgetary skills, which would require more technical training.

 

I feel that this assessment was the most valuable of all the assessments undertaken.  Although the other assessments provided important insight into different areas of leadership responsibilities and beliefs, this assessment pinpointed the precise area, or in my case, areas, of developmental need.  This assessment will be a great help in determining the focus of my internship.

 

Self-Assessment #2:  Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Score: Idealist Healer

 

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is comprised of 70 questions designed to determine an individual’s personality type. According to the Keirsey Temperament Theory, personality types can be broken down into four basic groups, which are referred to as Artisans, Guardians, Rationals and Idealists. These four groups are further divided into four separate “Character Types,” so there are four types of Artisans, four types of Guardians, four types of Rationals, and four types of Idealists.

 

Based on my answers to the 70 questions, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter determined that I am an “Idealist Healer.”  In the workplace, an Idealist Healer is seen as someone who is flexible, is open to new ideas and is tolerant of unexpected complications.  I believe this is true of myself, as well as the claim that Idealist Healers are impatient with everyday details.   Like the Idealist Healer, I usually work well with others, but I am happy to work on my own. I do feel it is my calling to help others, not just in the subject matter I teach, but also in their lives—to recognize those who suffer from inner conflict and to find a manner in which to help them ease that conflict.  Like Keirsey’s “Idealist Healer,” I often find that I feel set apart from my coworkers in that I truly believe that every individual has the capacity for good. However, unlike Keirsey’s model, although I am likely to take my own feelings into consideration when making a decision, I almost always equally consider the facts, so I feel that my decisions are soundly based in a combination of both awareness of the individuals involved and the facts behind the situation.

 

Self-Assessment #3:  Motivation Beliefs

 

I believe that there are two basic types of motivation:  internal and external.  Internal motivation is derived from personal beliefs and the desire for satisfaction in job completion, whereas external motivation comes from outside the self:  advancement, salary, and tangible rewards.  

 

When I motivate students I tend to begin with external motivators, such as prizes, grades, praise, etc.  As the year progresses, however, I try to help them realize that true motivation must come from within.  I try to help them recognize that my opinion of their project is less important than their own opinion.   I hope to help them see that when they rush through an assignment, they are not just compromising their grades, they are compromising their “inner” integrity—that part of themselves that doesn’t rely on what others think, but on which they themselves think.  Questions like “Mrs. Miller, is this good enough?” will always be answered with, “I don’t know—is it?”  “Do you think I should change this?” is countered with “It’s your project, not mine.”  When I taught journalism, the answer was “It’s your newspaper,” and “it’s your yearbook.”  In this way I hope to help my students recognize that striving for the best in an intrinsic motivation that we must all build and keep shoring up throughout our lives.