Feedback is “information given by a teacher to pupil(s) about their performance that aims to improve learning”, and the new guidance report from the EEF ‘Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning’ gives some key principles for ensuring it is as effective as possible. It is important to understand that these are principles, rather than instructions. Feedback is likely to look different, depending on the situation, subject, class, topic, day or individual pupil.
These principles form the first three of our recommendations and provide the central messages that run throughout this guidance. They state that teachers should:
- lay the foundations for effective feedback, with high-quality initial teaching that includes careful formative assessment;
- deliver appropriately timed feedback, that focuses on moving learning forward; and, crucially,
- plan for how pupils will receive and use feedback using strategies to ensure that pupils will act on the feedback offered.
In this new Voices from the Classroom video, Tobias Harris, Science Teacher at Queensmead School in London, describes delivering feedback following exam practice. He explains the fine balance of providing feedback ‘in the moment’, making deliberate choices about who needs immediate feedback and those who may benefit from more thinking time. Whole class feedback is also explored, in terms of challenging mistakes and misconceptions.
The EEF’s ‘Voices from the Classroom’ are a series of short, practical videos enabling teachers to hear directly from one another about how they are applying research evidence to their practice.