Whole-class feedback: improve the pupil, not just the work
This is part of a series. Click here to read the first post.
We’ve seen in the previous post that whole-class feedback needs to be specific and actionable. However, this shouldn’t mean it only focusses on the piece of work pupils have just completed. This tweet by Dylan Wiliam makes it clear that the aim of feedback is not primarily to improve the work, but to improve the student.
One big risk with whole class feedback is that it stays at the level of the piece of work. This is another problem with vague comments like ‘make your work more systematic’ or ‘develop your inference’. However, this is also a problem even with more specific and helpful comments. For example, imagine all of your pupils have written an essay about a text where they have confused two characters — let’s say it’s An Inspector Calls and they’ve confused Eric and Gerald. You could keep the focus on the essay itself, and say to the class ‘you’ve confused Eric and Gerald. Go back to your essay and rewrite the sections where you’ve confused them.’ This is clearly much more specific than ‘develop your inference’. But, given that the pupils were confused in the first place, is there really enough guidance here to unpick their confusion? Can you really be sure that by attempting to rewrite this essay, they will successfully get rid of their original misconception, replace it with the right one, and in future essays never make the same mistake again? I am not so sure. The aim with the feedback here should not be to improve the essay, but to improve the pupil’s thinking so they no longer have that misconception. Instead of asking pupils to rewrite the essay, you could give them the following three activities.
1. Place a paragraph that contains this misconception under the visualiser and ask pupils the following question: This paragraph says that Gerald gets Eva Brown pregnant. Is that correct? Look back at page xx and find evidence for or against this.
2. Read the following ten actions. Sort them into two columns: ‘Eric does this’ or ‘Gerald does this’.
3. Reread page xx and xx. Write down two major differences between Eric and Gerald.
This feedback provides a specific ‘recipe’ that pupils can immediately act on. But it’s also designed to provide a general benefit beyond just the improvement of the current piece of work. The major aim of feedback should be to improve pupils’ thinking. It’s more important to make sure that their next piece of work will be better than to endlessly edit and redraft the current piece. Sometimes improving the original work can be a step on the way to these wider goals, but it shouldn’t be the end goal in itself.
If you are interested in learning more, I am running a programme of online professional development from January — May 2023 which focusses on general assessment principles. The session on whole-class feedback is on March 13th. All sessions are free for subscribers who can register for them here. The schedule is below.
