The Negative Feedback Loop: How often do teachers give negative feedback to students?

Negative feedback doesn’t have to be reserved solely for the boss at work or your cranky neighbor who hates everyone’s music being too loud. In fact, it’s an integral part of our lives, and one that you can use to improve your own life. Negative feedback has the potential to help us overcome challenges and achieve more than we imagined possible, but only if we face it head-on instead of taking the easy way out and avoiding it altogether.

Research shows that the more negative feedback teachers give to students, the lower their confidence and the more they perform poorly on tests. While it’s clear that negative feedback can play a role in lowering student performance and confidence, how much negative feedback do teachers really give? And how often do they give it? Is there a particular student demographic that receives more negative feedback than others? This infographic will answer all of these questions and more.

Do you think it's ok for a teacher to give negative feedback in class?

I think the school environment will be better for both teachers and students if there is less negativity. Teachers should teach in a positive way instead of always finding the bad things in class. The student's level of attention could greatly improve if they're not receiving harsh, blunt comments from their teacher on a regular basis. It would also have a positive effect on the teacher's confidence and mood because they're working with more cooperative individuals. If this type of positivity was promoted in schools, then it would lead to more happy teachers who are able to provide a higher quality education. Schools that encourage this type of positive atmosphere might see an increase in enrollment too!

What would you do if your teacher gave you negative comments in front of the whole class?

1. People's reactions and how they perceive you will matter when this happens. You need to care about your teacher's opinion and what your peers think about you so you can learn from it and move on as quickly as possible.

2. Remind yourself that this is just one person's opinion, even if it feels like it should be the world's opinion, which makes it that much more important for you to know and learn who you are separate from others' opinions.

3. Talk back! If your teacher is in the wrong or says something ignorant or racist, be brave enough to speak up! All of those negative comments add up over time, so don't be afraid to stand up for yourself.

What are your thoughts about negativity and learning new skills or knowledge?

Negativity and receiving negative feedback is a necessary part of the learning process. Even though it might feel like you want to avoid it, avoiding a lack of negativity will deprive you of all the knowledge and information necessary for growth. Therefore, if you want your project or career to succeed, you'll need input from others who are willing to provide honest and critical evaluation.

Including critiquing in school settings has been shown that children can learn better when they have time with an educator who spends time giving them positive feedback; however, the teacher also needs to have time using those moments as motivation for giving them constructive criticism. It's important not only to receive encouragement but also to get different perspectives on what we're doing wrong so that we can grow into our best selves. Acknowledging mistakes is just as important as acknowledging successes because both serve the same purpose - helping us grow.

So what can we do about it as a society, as parents, as mentors, as teachers... ?

This is an issue that we need to address because the student's self-confidence and happiness in school are on the line. There are many things we can do as parents, mentors and teachers to help this problem. Mentors should be given positive reinforcement as much as possible when they see a student making strides towards their goals. Parents should focus on positives with their children at home and teach them how to think positively even when they're struggling in school.