The impact of feedback on relationships and performance.
Posted by shanetechteach on October 25, 2009
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a leadership breakfast. These are an initiative of the district office of my employing organisation. They provide an opportunity for Principals, Deputy Principals, Heads of Department and school based leaders (such as year coordinators) to attend an informal breakfast with a keynote presentation. This latest breakfast was accompanied by a keynote presentation on feedback. The pitch of the presentation was centred around providing feedback to staff, however I believe it has equal application to our roles as teachers.
One salient point the presenter made was to consider the underlying messages that are interpreted as feedback. What are we doing that provides feedback to others about our feelings, thoughts, professionalism, intent, knowledge, concern etc? Are there reactions to students that may be providing feedback that does not enhance or support our image as professionals? I see examples of this regularly, comments from teachers that undervalue theoretical knowledge in HPE relative to practical performance. I hear comments (value judgements) on students’ nutritional choices that could be interpreted as more than friendly advice on health. This is potentially a minefield. Feedback can often be associated with fear. Negative feedback reinforces this. Ineffective provision of feedback can reduce performance, taking their mind off the job and focusing it on perceptions of who they are, not how well they are doing. We need to consider that in our teaching and management, and consciously counteract the fear component. So how do we do this.
The suggestions from the presenter centred around changing the role and understanding of feedback. Make feedback helpful. It should be a shared interaction, a process that enhances performance. We need to create a shared context and a shared focus. A shared context occurs in terms of background and support. All parties need to acknowledge existing relationships and any history. This can be particularly difficult if previous history involves negative situations with feedback. The shared focus is about understanding individual and collective goals from the feedback process. Is the feedback linked to goals and priorities.
Hmm, not so simple as providing an opinion.
