[This is an expanded version of the published article, which was given a different title.]
A lot of people make a living by offering advice about how teachers should give feedback to students — or how administrators should give feedback to teachers. Unfortunately, a body of compelling theory and research raises troubling questions about the value of much of that advice. It turns out that hearing how well we’ve done (typically from someone in a position of power) often doesn’t lead us to improve.
The wordfeedback, which originated in the world of mechanics, refers to a self-regulating system like a thermostat in which output affects input. Thus, when applied to human communication, the word would seem to apply only to information — as in “Here’s something you did that I noticed…” When feedback is contaminated with evaluation (“Here’s what I think about what you did…”), it tends to become not only less effective but often downright damaging — both to future performance and to recipients’interestin whatever they were doing.
Why Feedback Often Doesn’t Help By Alfie Kohn
by Michael Keany
Sep 22, 2022
Why Feedback Often Doesn’t Help
By Alfie Kohn
[This is an expanded version of the published article, which was given a different title.]
A lot of people make a living by offering advice about how teachers should give feedback to students — or how administrators should give feedback to teachers. Unfortunately, a body of compelling theory and research raises troubling questions about the value of much of that advice. It turns out that hearing how well we’ve done (typically from someone in a position of power) often doesn’t lead us to improve.
The word feedback, which originated in the world of mechanics, refers to a self-regulating system like a thermostat in which output affects input. Thus, when applied to human communication, the word would seem to apply only to information — as in “Here’s something you did that I noticed…” When feedback is contaminated with evaluation (“Here’s what I think about what you did…”), it tends to become not only less effective but often downright damaging — both to future performance and to recipients’ interest in whatever they were doing.
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