Newslink November

Towards your CPD
It’s good
to talk
Steve Garrod looks
at how best to deliver
feedback - with the
emphasis, as ever,
on painting a positive
picture to your pupil
Giving feedback is a way of boosting a
learner’s confidence and motivation and
reassuring them that they are making
progress towards their goal. All learners need
to know how they are doing and what they
are doing well and what they need to improve
on. Your feedback should help them to
understand these points.
Think about the last time you gave
feedback to a learner. Was it positive,
negative or a bit of both? (be honest!) Make a
few notes before reading any further.
Feedback should be a two-way process,
allowing time for discussion to clarify points
and for pupils to play an active role in fault
identification, analysis and remedial action
(which used to be known as the Core-
Competences). This may mean you need to
pull up to ensure that what is being discussed
is of value and effective.
For example, if a fault happens on the move
a reassuring tone, a well-timed question or a
‘mental marker’ will help you both to
remember a key point for discussion once
you have pulled over, eg, “Do you need to
signal?”
Once you have time to discuss this point in
more detail you could ask your learner, “Why
do you think I asked you about the signal on
the High Street?”
A mental marker is similar to ‘flagging a
question’ on the theory test, because it
allows you to return to or recall a situation
once there is time to discuss it more detail,
for example if your learner stops too close to
the car in front in a queue, you may mention
something about that car, eg, what the driver
is doing or a sticker on the back.
Just the other day we were following a car
with a sticker in the rear window proudly
displaying ‘I’d rather be watching Charlton
Athletic’. We briefly reflected on just how bad
this poor chap’s life had become. Once you
have had time to pull up to discuss
performance, you can refer to the car before
explaining the fault.
There are times, however, where it would
not be suitable to ask a question, eg, in the
middle of a busy crossroads. In this case it
would be safer to say that a fault has been
made and you will need to pull over as soon
as possible to discuss this. This may sound
negative but, as was pointed out to me in a
recent ORDIT observation, old methods do
still have a place in modern teaching.
The skill of an instructor is to grade the
seriousness of the fault and decided on what
action to take, eg, if no other road user is
affected by it then it could possibly be
discussed at the time of it occurring such as
positioning while waiting to emerge with no
following traffic. This way your pupil can see
where they have incorrectly positioned
before being guided into the correct position.
We often think of feedback as being oral,
but it can be our body language, facial
gestures, such as smiling, raising eyebrows, a
nod of the head, hand gestures, sighing or
tone of voice.
The point we are making here is that
anything you do or say while teaching can be
interpreted as feedback (both positive and
negative). Often how you say something is
more effective than what is being said and
non-verbal communication can be just as
reassuring as saying ‘well done’ or ‘good
decision’.
There are a few things to remember when
giving feedback to make sure your feedback
remains effective:
Feedback is for the benefit of the learner,
not the instructor! Therefore, think about the
impact it will have on the receiver. Will it have
the effect you want?
Try to give feedback as soon after an
activity as possible to prevent the positive
points being forgotten. The longer you leave
it the greater the chance of only being able to
recall the negative points.
With faults come risks and it is essential
that the risk, danger or disadvantage of the
identified fault are discussed.
Most people respond to something
encouraging; therefore, it makes sense to
start with something positive.
This suggests that you have observed the
whole performance and not just looked for
faults.
20 NEWSLINK n NOVEMBER 2023