Feb 21 2007
Is feedback a four letter word?
Last month, Dr. Ron Walker from Ashland University told me that feedback is indeed a four letter word, it spells g-r-o-w. That same month, one of my favorite magazines, Fast Company, included an article from a famous business psychologist that claimed that there can be no perfection without feedback. Specifically, the author pointed out that experience is worth virtually nothing, absent feedback.
Yesterday, a member of a UDL team at one of our client schools really moved my thinking around this topic. Where do teachers get valuable feedback? I have certainly met some of the most reflective teachers I have ever come across while working at The Center. These teachers analyze their lessons and ask themselves what worked, and what didn’t. More importantly, they takle action based upon the answers they come up with. Additionally, I have come across teachers who are experts at using assessment and achievement data to inform instructional decisions. They compare their outcomes against the desired outcomes and look for gaps. Neither of these examples really exemplifies feedback.
Feedback is, for the most part, objective. It describes what was observed. Where do teachers get it? I think that few of us would argue that the evaluations received as the result of observations by principals have offered the feedback needed for growth. Students can be a valuable source of feedback. Peers can be a valuable source of feedback.
If you are a teacher, let me know when you have received feedback that really moved you forward. Please feel free to challenge my assertion that feedback is necessary.
Jeff:
great post.
When I think of a time as a teacher when I received feedback that really moved me forward, I would have to say that it came from a student and not another teacher or from an evaluation.
I teach Spanish, I am not a native speaker but I have near native fluency. Language learning theorists often talk about “error fossilization,” that is, that some errors just “stick” and won’t go away. We see this in our students in lots of ways, and I saw it in myself with a couple of grammatical forms that i just never quite said correctly the first time out, but would after reflecting a bit.
Well, it took one of my students to correct me (and gently I might add) on one such fossilized error for me to not only move forward linguistically but also professionally…she modeled for me what her teachers had modeled for her… and the circle continued… and it was then that I saw how students and teachers could and should engage in a form reciprocal apprenticeship relationships when learning and teaching.
Thanks for helping me remember that!
-B
Jeff: We can all use feedback no matter what our profession. Love the blog and appreciate how you expand the mind with resources that are available to everyone. Keep up with the blogging. It’s working.
Lisa
Great replies. I though about this post quite a bit before publishing. Without question feedback is necessary for growth. How can the Center provide feedback in an atmosphere of collegiality and support, rather than in judgmental ways? Further, what steps must be taken to create such an atmosphere?
I received some feedback today from an administrator. I was embarrassed at first. Disappointed in myself? A little. Frustrated and ready to make an excuse? Perhaps.
I am glad that it happened – sort of.
I will now be more mindful when I am conducting certain tasks. My feedback situation today wasn’t given on a teaching event or a lesson plan, but it was a necessary feedback on my professional behavior in communications and I will take the feedback very seriously. It needed immediate attention and received just that.
Of course I would love to be perfect 100% of the time. Sigh…
I am human and I make mistakes. Thank goodness that I recover well. I can’t afford for mistakes to get me down or define who I am. I try my best to turn my mistakes into learning situations. I am a practitioner of my own craft aren’t I – both student and teacher – yes.
There is always room for improvement in anything that I do: practicing my yoga postures, writing a letter, interactions with others, planning or delivery of a lesson.
10 minutes from now I’ll probably review this post and say, “Hmmm…I could have said X instead of saying Y.”
I am not in the publishing business, but I assume that book editors give direct feedback to the authors.
How many times have I said to students, “Edit. Edit. Edit.”
Do we take our own advice?
Do we “Edit. Edit Edit.” our own lesson plans?
Maybe? Sometimes? Often times not (See the posts on the topic of “Time”).
But we need to.
That overhead transparency that served you well that past 3 years may not work with this particular lesson, for this particular group of students.
One of the best things that I did at the Center was learning to use the process of “Tuning Protocols.” I also took a grad class this summer and we “tuned” many lesson designs. It may be uncomfortable – standing at the front of the class, sort of naked – baring the soul of my teaching to my colleagues - describing my thinking, sharing my ideas, revealing the process of my “art” - listening to feedback and responding right there on the spot - it’s kind of intense.
I learned that good things come out of these “Tuning Sessions” – new ideas, other ways to approach the topic, additional resources, something that I may have missed the first time around, … Good stuff.
Uncomfortable? Yes.
Time Consuming? Yes.
Worthwhile? I think so!