Tell Me so I Can Hear You: A Developmental Approach to Effective Feedback

• In Event: Program Issues in Educational Leadership

Abstract

This paper introduces a new, research-based, developmental approach to giving and receiving effective feedback. Drawing from (a) Robert Kegan’s (1982, 1994, 2000) constructive-developmental theory and authors’ extensions of it (Authors, 2016), (b) a review of the feedback literature in education and business, and (c) more than 25 years of research and work with school leaders around the globe (Author, 1996, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015; Authors, 2013, 2016), our work illuminates the critical importance of differentiating feedback with developmental intentionality so that adults—who make sense of their experiences in qualitatively different ways—can best hear it, learn from it, and improve their instruction and leadership. We offer implications for practice, professional learning, and leadership preparation.

Authors

• Eleanor E. Drago-Severson, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Jessica Blum-DeStefano, Teachers College, Columbia University