We cannot take it for granted that teachers will develop the disposition and skills to engage in self‐evaluation, and this paper stresses the importance of collaborative evaluation and discourse in the initial training course. Examples are given of how the action‐research process can enhance the understanding of specific teaching episodes. It is argued that such experience forms an important foundation for the future professional development of teachers.‘If he is fortunate the young teacher will join the staff of a school which is engaged corporately in the task of self‐evaluation with all that it implies for collective debate and decision taking.’ (DES, 1981, 19)