Principals Reflection
Paul Burnett (Queensland University of Technology) and Valerie Mandel (University of Western Australia) conducted a small-scale qualitative study in which they investigated teachers’ and students’ perceptions of praise and feedback in the classroom using structured interviews and classroom observation. The findings suggested that several factors need to be considered when using praise and feedback in the primary classroom and careful deliberation should be given to the type of praise and feedback used by teachers in their classrooms and when and how it should be used. Younger students prefer ‘ability’ feedback, and as they grow older their preference for ‘effort’ feedback increases. Most importantly, general, non-targeted praise was most commonly used in the classroom, but this type of praise is not effective because it is not linked to a specific behaviour or targeted to the successful completion of a task. The results of this study suggest that teachers should use less general, non-targeted praise, more effort and ability feedback, and give more ability than effort feedback to younger students (grades 1-4) and more effort than ability feedback to older students (grades 5-7). Over the past two weeks parents have been receiving information on our school Student Online Feedback and Reporting Guidelines – a school-created initiative that reflects a system-wide proposal to provide the opportunity for more meaningful home-school discussions relating to student engagement and outcomes. Today, parents will receive login details for the Seesaw Student Online Folio resource, work samples of which will be loaded by teachers once assessments are completed and should contribute to parents gaining a stronger insight in their child’s learning engagement and outcomes, and which should complement the mid-year and end-of-year reports.
Apparently the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: abcdef (and ‘k’) is… ‘Feedback’! US businessman, Elon Musk, stated, “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, 'No, what's wrong with a horse?' That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” Although not a keen advocate of the inter-personal business philosophies of Henry Ford or Elon Musk, the notion of improvement has kept researchers, economists and philosophers busy for generations. Whilst ‘death and taxes’ are two certainties, the need to improve is also an axiom for the vast majority (if not all) of us. The important characteristics of effective improvement can arguably be reflected in two characteristics:
- Goal-driven.
- Feedback loop - constant reflection on goals.
Underpinning these characteristics are key organisational qualities such as the culture of the community, and how, when, where, what and why information is communicated amongst the community.
In my experience and from various readings, improvement is ultimately reliant on one ingredient for its fundamental success - the right people being in the right place for the right reasons at the right time. As a school community, improvement is an important aspect of our discussions - staff are constantly communicating with colleagues, families and consultants about raising our own and students’ attainments. I believe a school our size and with our existing culture of greeting, meeting and treating each other with mutual respect is constantly providing a flow of useful information that should allow each of us to reflect and improve.
Regards,
Rod Linhart
(Principal)