Constructive Feedback

Constructive Feedback

First of all, let us address the example question on active listening from last week. The speaker was a colleague who felt like quitting teaching. An appropriate response from an active listener would be: “Jane, you feel defeated and discouraged because your students were so impossible today. You feel the urge to quit because your students are not showing interest in their studies.” This could lead onto a conversation or another monologue from the colleague. The worst thing for an active listener to do is to offer advice or start babbling on about how they experienced the exact same thing.

Now onto a similar concept, constructive feedback. This is useful when you want to talk to someone about their behavior in a way that will help the other person grow. Yes, it seems awkward at first, but it can really improve you and your role as a teacher.

It involves a respond to behavior with a single sentence. This sentence contains: “I feel....when you...because...”. Note that the word that should never follow I feel in these sentences. Here is an example:

Your colleague John is an avid photo-copier. He is always using the machine in the morning and takes at least 20 minutes because everything has to be perfect. John is taking up so much time that you don’t have a chance to make your photocopies half of the time. What do you say to him.

John, you hog, get out of my way!

Nope. Don’t use that one! It will only worsen the situation.

John, I feel frustrated when you tie up the photo-copying machine for twenty minutes every morning because it means that I cannot make my photo copies and ensure that my lesson plans go as I wanted them to.

This would help John to understand the situation from your viewpoint. It does not really hurt him nor does it accuse him of anything. It may make him cut back on his copying so that you can get yours done.

Here is an example for you to try:

The principal has just handed you the yard duty schedule for the week. You notice that you have the before-school duty every day, just as you have for the past two weeks. You live right beside the school, but you don’t like having to be at school an hour early every day. What do you say to the principal, Jack?

Scroll down for possible answer...

Jack, I feel exploited and mistreated when you repeatedly give me before-school yard duties because I have just as much to do as the other teachers in the hour before school.

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