Self-assessment

All Taekwondo students should practice self-assessment of performance and correction of deficiencies. These skills should be taught by instructors just as they would teach any other techniques. However, many instructors have not learned these skills themselves. Therefore, when teaching, most instructors correct errors or give praise, but neither is conducive to teaching the student how to self-correct errors. In fact, these responses tend to create excessive dependence upon the instructor’s feedback and presence.

For effective learning to occur, students must receive feedback regarding performance. That feedback can be external from the instructor or a rank testing, or it can be internal from self-observation. Without feedback, students may not learn at all or may learn incorrectly. However, feedback from the instructor may make the student more dependent upon such feedback. Past research has mostly focused on external feedback; however, recent research indicates that internal feedback may be even more important than external feedback. 

To help students develop internal methods of feedback, the first step is to provide the student with a standard of correct technique, and show the student how to perform the technique. Once the student has learned the basic skill and is in the process of perfecting performance, self-correction becomes crucial.