| Summary: | Thinking Skills has, since its conception as a teachable subject, been difficult to assess due to lack
of a universal definition of Thinking Skills. McMahon (1999) warns that the chosen strategy for
assessing Thinking Skills must itself promote and reward thinking skills. Self- and Peer- assessment
are the methods of assessment proposed by Costa and Kallick (2000) for the assessment of their
Thinking Skills programme, Habits of Mind. This study investigates the diversity of perceptions
which can be generated through self-, peer- and teacher-assessment, and how a balance can be
struck between them through incorporating dialogue into assessment. 12 Grade 8 learners who
study Habits of Mind as a school subject in a South African all-girls' private school participated in 4
assessment tasks. For each task, participants were assessed by a peer, a teacher and themselves.
After each task, all participants reflected on the rubrics from all three assessors. Participants in this
study demonstrated more extensive learning across Anderson's (2010) Dimensions of Growth when
they engaged in reflective dialogue compared to when they engaged in written reflections. Through
dialogue, learners were empowered as role-players in their own assessment and became able to shift
their own perspective to include the perspectives of others. Dialogical Assessment also facilitated
the development of meta-cognition in participants.
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