In the September 21st, 2022 edition of Education Week, there is a great article entitled "The Danger With Giving Students Feedback" from Alfie Kohn (https://www.alfiekohn.org/) Naturally with all of the work we have done with Academy 2.75 and co-created feedback cycles, this caught my eye. However, upon digging deeper, this article greatly supports the work we have done regarding feedback. Kohn notes, "Feedback works best when it is just one step in the learning process". There are a lot of great points made in the article that tie not only to feedback but grades as well. I have a copy of the article and I am happy to share.
Some important points Kohn makes:
"Substantive feedback without any grade attached was preferable for promoting both motivation and achievement" - This speaks directly to our work with empowering students to be part of their feedback cycle. And it shows that the feedback process, when done collaboratively and with meaning, is more impactful than simply putting a grade on a paper.
"Feedback is most likely to backfire when it is given publicly or in comparison with other people" - As we have shared, feedback needs to be personal and in small groups/one-on-one. These structures naturally lend themselves to specific feedback, not general responses.
"Feedback works best when it's just one step in the learning process rather than a final judgment... the feedback isn't always beneficial particularly if it is based on a test" - Feedback should be based on authentic applications, not simply traditional tests.
"It matters not only how but WHY feedback is given. The ideal scenario is for information to be offered (note the author does not use the word 'given') at the recipient's request. In general, effective teachers and managers do a lot more asking than telling: 'How Can I Help? What do you need to know?'" - this drives home the point that students need to be the drivers of a feedback cycle. Our focus should always be about the student.
