Factual Feedback

Conrad Ho, May. 30, 2015, Hong Kong, China

Conrad Ho believes that both praise and criticism are important teaching tools, and very effective. However, they should not be over-used. Otherwise, too much praise would lead to self-importance; too much criticism would lead to self-degradation. How can balance be struck between the two?

My answer is that we can give praise or criticism from time to time. However, it would be best to give factual account in most of the time. This would enable children or learners to go back to their actual competence level. Only in this way can learners live freely, happily and comfortably. If learners have to attain a level higher or lower than their actual level in every task they do, they would be always wavering between the states of trying too hard and not performing their best. How can they live freely, happily and comfortably in this way?

What is factual account? It is to give learners the feedback on what you actually see, hear and feel. During the process, refrain from making any judgment, speculation, conclusion, assessment….etc.. The common wordings are “I see that..” or “I hear that..”.

There is an important consideration in using the technique of factual account that it should be used in a teachable moment. In other words, are learners in a state of willing to listen? This teachable moment often appears in times of emotional calmness, or when learners actively come forward to talk or ask for help directly. This then requires a teacher to possess another necessary skill which is companionship, being a companion without doing anything. Companionship without motive can foster mutual trust, bringing out a teachable moment eventually

There is one very important premise in using this technique of factual account that it should be used in times of physical safety and social security. If there was possible physical injury or psychological damage, it would be a time of emergency! It would not be a time for considering whether learners could learn anything. No doubt, priority should be given to ensuring physical and social security. Some parents and teachers would severely scold or even beat children in teaching them. This may render children or learners in a state of physical or social insecurity, ruining any teachable moment entirely.

What can a teacher talk about in the feedback during a teachable moment? For short term benefits, the feedback can be about the behaviour of learners in a particular incident and the experience, reflection and new decisions thus gained. For long term benefits, the focus can be placed on the behavioural pattern of learners, enabling them to understand themselves better, knowing more about their own character. This would enable them to find rooms for improvement and make necessary changes to avoid making the same mistake again.

For learners, the feedback can come from outside but it can also be self-initiated. How can learners be independent if they need to be reminded every time? How indulging and impossible is it to have someone there to remind them all the time? Therefore, it is better to teach someone how to fish than giving someone a fish. When learners have received feedback and are still in the teachable moment, a teacher can take a step forward and ask the learners to examine the whole process and give themselves factual feedback as an observer. This will train up their ability to notice themselves and develop their skill to give feedback.