One Simple Strategy: Attribute Critical Feedback to High Standards and Belief in Student Potential
Constructive feedback is one of the most powerful tools for promoting children’s social, moral, and intellectual development. Whereas much is known about how to praise children, and how not to praise them, much less is known about how to effectively provide criticism. How can one convey criticism that could lead to improvement without undermining motivation and self-confidence?
– Breaking the Cycle of Mistrust
In the study “Breaking the Cycle of Mistrust,” Yeager and his colleagues explored a strategy to restore trust and examined its impact on students’ responses to critical feedback. The findings revealed a single, straightforward strategy that can enhance engagement and elevate the overall quality of students’ work.
Experiment Design:
- Students were tasked with writing an essay about a personal hero within a curriculum module.
- All students received critical feedback from their teacher on the initial draft of their essays, accompanied by a randomly assigned message.
Control Group Message:
I’m giving you these comments so that you’ll have feedback on your paper.
Treatment Group Message:
I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations, and I know that you can reach them.
The Results:
Students who received the treatment note, emphasizing their teacher’s high standards and belief in their potential to meet those standards, exhibited a higher likelihood of revising their essays. Through continued revisions and the guidance of “wise feedback,” these students ultimately achieved higher grades. What may seem like a simple statement had the profound effect of breaking the cycle of mistrust by interrupting its self-reinforcing consequences.
The note from the teacher reframed the feedback and contributed to the establishment of a culture with high expectations, where critical feedback was intertwined with praise for high-quality work. The provision of “wise feedback” offered an alternative framework where the teacher demonstrated confidence in the students’ ability to excel at a high level, rather than attacking their work.
By attributing critical feedback to high standards and expressing belief in student potential, educators can empower students, foster a culture of growth, and encourage continuous improvement in their academic pursuits.