Constructive feedback can be difficult to give, as well as to receive. I think we sometimes fear hearing about areas where we can improve, particularly when this comes from a figure of authority, because we misconstrue this as criticism, or failure to be great. Giving someone constructive feedback can also be difficult, as too often we worry about hurting feelings and fall into the trap of giving praise, rather than suggestions for improvement.
The following link provides from great tips on giving constructive feedback by both straddling the line of protecting one's feelings, while simultaneously helping individuals see how they can better their performance.
Assessment of, for and as learning has become a popular topic of discussion in today's increasingly constructivist learning environment. The main focus of feedback within all of these categories is to help students learn, and advance metacognition. We want our student to understand how they learn as well as being able to identify gaps in their knowledge, so as teachers, we are trained to provide students with feedback. Constant, relevant and personalized feedback that is meaningful for students.
As Bill Gates says, "everyone needs a coach". With experience, anyone working with others in an educational capacity learns to detect self-assessment performance clues from the reaction of the group. Good teachers are able to mold their teaching and change direction from students questions, learning, and inquiry. However, research shows that teachers are provided with very little useful feedback. What is especially alarming is that the most frequent feedback provided to teachers is the word: "satisfactory". The problems with this are overwhelming. What is the motivation to improve? What are the specific areas needing improvement?
This begs the question: how do we provide teachers with meaningful feedback to help them improve their practice?
The ASCD outlines some ways that teachers are assessed, as well as the importance of assessment of pedagogical practices. One of these reasons is:
We can remedy these problematic characteristics by attending to some basic principles of assessment and teacher learning. First, it helps to be clear about why we even have teacher evaluation. Laws, of course, require it. But why are there laws? The first and most fundamental reason is because public schools are public institutions; they take public money, and the public has a right to expect high-quality teaching. But there are two more basic purposes.My argument is that the above statement employs the "old story". The one concerned with production, standardized test scores to determine student learning and teaching on a very political agenda without consideration of student learning.
In Shanghai teachers get the change to improve their practice through collaboration. Here are some strategies from the world's highest achieving:
-weekly teacher study groups where teachers discuss strategies that are working for students
-each teacher observes, and provides feedback to their colleagues.
As Bill Gates outlines, these practices are crucial due to the high degree of variation in the teaching profession. If we can encourage teachers to work collaboratively, to share tips for improvement, and to allow our colleagues to see areas in which they excel and ones in which they can improve, we could help each other see what we are capable of and achieve greatness for our students.
Until next time,
Ana Vintan
