Abstract
This study resulted in the development of two instruments for teacher and student use in assessing the affective
development of year 5, 6 and 7 Primary school students. Eighty-seven teachers rated the students in their
class on a set of 22 affective characteristics which they deemed important to develop in their students as a
result of their teaching. Factor analysis of these ratings resulted in two factors. Twenty-two teachers wrote
classroom descriptors for the 11 characteristics making up the two factors which formed the basis for the
instruments The descriptors were validated and the reliability of the two instruments was determined using a
25% sample of the children in these 22 classes. These instruments will help sensitise teachers to achieve a
more appropriate balance between cognitive and affective objectives in their classrooms, and where there is
dialogue between teacher and student following the student's self evaluation, will result in student
empowerment.