Providing Feedback
You give feedback to the students in your classroom to help improve their knowledge, skills, and/or performance. It is for those same reasons feedback to teacher candidates is vital to help them identify and learn the skills and knowledge needed to be an effective educator.
While the teacher candidate wants and needs feedback, providing it can also be one of the most difficult tasks for cooperating teachers. But feedback shouldn’t be feared! Cooperating teachers should be a mirror, of sorts, for give developing educators an accurate understanding of their current level of performance without crushing their spirits or dampening their enthusiasm. Fortunately, providing this kind of feedback is a skill you can improve over time.
According to the Center for Mentoring Excellence, here are 6 tips for giving feedback to mentees:
Talk about the value of feedback. Let the teacher candidate know to expect it.
Provide frequent and ongoing feedback. This ensures your feedback is timely and closely related to the events it refers to.
Stay balanced. Err on the side of caution. Offer more positive comments than critical comments.
Be sincere. If positive feedback is forced, it loses value and undermines your credibility.
Keep it two-way. Feedback should be a conversation, not a lecture. Make sure the teacher candidate is engaged in the conversation. Facilitate a conversation that ensures they understand your input and is motivated to act on your feedback.
Limit feedback to one or two items that the teacher candidate can do something about. This can help ensure they are not overwhelmed.
Language Tips When Giving Feedback
Tip #1: Engage in Active Listening
Active listening provides signals to the teacher candidate that you are really listening to what they are communicating. This could be as simple as eye contact and head nods or could be demonstrated by re-phrasing what your teacher candidate is saying. Active listening might sound like "If I'm hearing you correctly..." or "I'm wondering if you are expressing a concern that..."
Tip #2: Use “how” and “what” instead of “why”
As adult learners, your teacher candidate is able to self-assess and will often recognize and correct missteps on their own. Avoiding asking “why” can also lead to a deeper understanding of the teacher candidate’s position. For example, maybe dialogue with a teacher candidate goes something like… “So, you said that you thought using technology would help to aid in differentiation. How did you see it meeting the needs of all students? Can you tell me more about that?” This likely would get a far better, richer, and more interesting response than, “So, you said that you used technology to differentiate. Why is that?”
Tip #3: Ask mediational questions
The art of asking good questions can bring about a new understanding which extend thinking, learning, and planning. They help the teacher candidate make hypotheses and think outside the box. Asking "What alternatives have you thought about?" or "What do you think would happen if..." can help a teacher candidate think outside the box and problem solve.
