“People may forget what you said to them or what you did with them however they always remember how you made them feel”

One of the major responsibilities of a teacher is to give a feedback to the students about their academic performance and overall development. A feedback should be targeted towards the morale boosting of the children and should not be de-motivating.

The student may not know that they are not achieving the required level and without the feedback student will not be able to take the actions necessary to improve.

Effective feedback enables the student to gain insight into the gap between his performance and the desired standard. Without being given feedback the students may not be aware that this gap exists between their performance and the desired level. The aim of giving feedback is to help the students narrow this gap by illuminating their strengths and areas for development.

Key principles for giving feedback include,

1. Ensuring that the student is at the centre of the feedback process
2. It illuminates both the strengths and areas for development of the student.
3. The feedback should be given regularly and timely
4. A non- judgmental language should be used – refering to the behavior and not to the person.
5. Specific, easily understood language should be used together with examples and it has to be given as a dialogue between the mentor and the student. be specific and clear with feedback messages
6. The feedback should be given at the correct level and is both supportive and challenging.
7. Don’t give feedback only when there’s a problem

Benefits of Constructive Feedback

1. Constructive and solution focused feedback helps the students to understand what they need to do to improve their performance.
2. It will increase the student’s confidence, motivation and enthusiasm for learning
3. It will help them to continue to learn and to further develop their strengths.
4. Being given feedback will enable the student to focus on areas of improvement and to take actions to progress their skills so that they are performing at the required level.
5. Giving a student regular feedback will help them to develop their skills of self assessment so that they can recognize their own strengths and weaknesses.

By Anjali Atre