The EdublogsClub prompt this week is feedback. As someone who regularly gives and receives feedback, I have to admit I can get a bit blasé with it. I usually work with marginalised people and/or supportive folk (carers, support staff…) – and we often end up just focusing on the positives. It’s a hard habit to get out of.

Last year I remember speaking to a classmate about a presentation. She was hugely supportive of my ideas and I left our study groups feeling elated. However, a few weeks later we had a tutorial and another person in the room was quite critical of my idea. I actually agreed with everything he said. I found it really difficult to understand the assignment aims – it’s something I continuously struggle with (even with guidelines). After a couple of weeks of study groups I felt confident that I had understood what was being asked of me because everyone around me was nodding, smiling and telling me my theme was interesting.

The deflation, after feeling like I had overcome a challenge, was really too much to cope with. I then rewrote my presentation in a week. But the short amount of time, on top of my anxiety, made me feel too ill to do the presentation.

I fully understand how difficult it is to give feedback. But whenever I am about to give feedback I remember that experience from last year. The feeling of false security I had because people were kind to me. I think about what sort of feedback would help me.

There are a few things that have helped me ask for and/or give feedback. Just add ICE.

Incorporate your/their interests – I love digital technology so if you want some good feedback from me collect it in a way that I will find fun. Surveys are OK, but I’m done them before. Try something different – like an eportfolio I have to upload something to or an app. Obviously, not everyone will want to give feedback in this way but I would.

Communicate – If the feedback you’ve collected is not useful then be honest about it. After receiving some vague feedback I started a discussion with a group of classmates explaining that I would appreciate their honest thoughts on my workshop. They understood as they had been in the same position previously. I’ve found most people want to be helpful, so if you communicate your needs they can give you more information. It’s also a great time to ask people how they like to give feedback and what you can do in the future to make them want to give more meaningful information.

Experiment – as an art student I like to be creative. When my tutors collected feedback there was no right or wrong way to communicate. And our feedback forms reflected this. We wrote, we drew, we collaged, we shouted, we used different materials (hint: using tracing paper is very fun and we ended up layering our feedback), we used physical movement to express our thoughts. Mix it up. If it doesn’t work, try something different next time.

Poster for the movie “Cool as Ice”