Pupils need to recognise that responding to feedback leads to improved performance. With careful coaching from the teacher they should be able to identify and evaluate how they have progressed and then establish their next steps. In this sense, over time they become far more adept at self-regulation. Dylan Wiliam highlights the importance of ‘activating students as owners of their own learning’. As teachers we need to recognise that we cannot do the learning for our students, we need to help our students develop sufficient insights into their own learning to improve it. Building in time for pupils to reflect on their learning is crucial. Wiliam argues that self-regulated learning depends on two things:

• Metacognition (one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes – for example, if you notice that you are having more trouble learning A than B, if you double-check C before accepting it as a fact, if you recognise that you need to develop a memory aid for D, otherwise you will forget it)

• Motivation - the learner may have the necessary strategies but does not use them.  Feedback therefore needs to improve the student’s willingness, desire and capacity to learn. Promote the belief that ability is incremental rather than fixed – ‘where students think they can’t get smarter, they are likely to devote their energy to avoiding failure’. When the goals seem out of reach the student gives up. Targets therefore need to be challenging, specific but within reach.

 

Encourage the idea of personal bests

As Wiliam observes, when most students are given a score alongside a teacher comment, they first look at the score, then compare their score with those around them in the class. The feedback gets lost and ‘metal energy becomes focussed on protecting their own sense of well-being rather than learning anything new’. 

Instead focus on the idea of personal bests – as well as a comment they receive a +/-/= depending on whether their work is not as good as, about the same as or better that their previous work on the topic. This provides feedback on things which are within the students’ control – rather than things that are not within their control (such as how they compare to their peers). Feedback needs to direct attention to what the pupil needs to do next to improve, rather than focussing on how well or how badly the student did on the work.

 

Encourage pupil to teacher feedback   

Pupil to teacher feedback is just as important as teacher to pupil feedback. Opportunities to feedback to their teacher via their books can transform the learning experience for students. The shy student can make the teacher aware that they are struggling to read and understand the textbook or that they are struggling to remember key topics. This can be the start of an on-going dialogue about the learning process. As Hattie argues, the best way to raise attainment is to improve the level of interaction between pupils and their teachers. Improving feedback between teachers and their pupils, giving both parties the information they need to improve and making sure that children are sufficiently stretched is fundamental.

Examples of how we have tried to encourage an on-going dialogue within the books of our GCSE  students are provided below.

 
Younger pupils will need to be carefully coached through this process. Prompts can help encourage reflection and provide feedback to the teacher. For example:

• I was surprised by …

• I was interested in …

• One thing I am not sure about is …

• I need to find out more about …

• I might have got more out of the lesson if …

With our ‘A’ level students we use learning logs to build in regular reflection and to provide feedback from pupil to teacher.

 
The key is to evaluate your impact on the learning of your students at regular intervals. Regularly seek feedback from your students, create a dialogue, welcome error, set high expectations, create trusting environments, foster deliberate practice and a growth mindset.

As John Hattie argues:

‘Visible teaching and learning occurs when learning is explicit, when it is appropriately challenging, and when the teacher and the student both seek feedback … when there is deliberate practice aimed at attaining mastery of the goal … and when there are ‘active, passionate and engaging people (teacher, students, peers) participating in the act of learning’.