"Everything You Do Is Giving Them Feedback": A Phenomenographic Study of Teacher Conceptions of Feedback

• In Event: Teachers, Teaching, and Classroom Assessment

Abstract

A phenomenographic analysis explored 18 teachers' conceptions of feedback and how they were enacted, identifying five hierarchically ordered categories. In the first, feedback was generated to satisfy stakeholder expectations while the second identified psycho-social purposes within the classroom. In category three, the focus was on correcting and marking student work, whereas category four stressed the importance of providing steps for improvement. The final category showed teachers taking active steps to make sure student utilized feedback, reminding that feedback provision is only the first step. Teachers experienced significant tensions between growth (Categories 3-5) and well-being (Category 2) feedback purposes; they must be encouraged to explore and resolve these so that concerns for student emotional welfare do not undermine academic improvement purposes.

Authors

• Lois Ruth Harris, Central Queensland University

• Gavin T. Brown, The University of Auckland