Qualitative Evaluation in Consensual-Oriented Humanities Education

Abstract

The article is an explication of the concept of evaluation as a key element of consensual humanistic education. The evaluation is defined as a systematic recognition of the process of changes – at the individual and group level – and a key element of the decision-making process. The functions of the evaluation are: improvement of ongoing activities, promotion of social competences and strengthening of positive relations in the group, building a sense of security, consolidating the effects of cooperation, indicating the usefulness of the acquired knowledge. Next, the author briefly discusses the successive stages of the consensual decision-making process and the evaluation questions that are relevant to them. She presents the so-called “evaluation matrix”, taking into account – in addition to the already mentioned elements – evaluation criteria (adequacy, safety, level of participation, durability of knowledge, skills and attitudes, affective work), key for each stage of the question, satisfaction indicators and examples of tools to achieve the goal. The text closes a detailed description of these evaluation tools.