Learnership: Feedback for Growth
Helping our ākonga seek, understand, and use information to improve
This term we are beginning to focus more deliberately on feedback. This builds naturally from our work with the Habits of Mind, because feedback only helps when ākonga have the behaviours needed to listen, think, question, adjust, and try again with a better plan.
Feedback is sometimes thought of as something a teacher gives after work is finished. In Learnership, we want ākonga to understand feedback differently. Feedback is information for growth. It helps ākonga understand where they are now, where they are trying to get to, and what action will help them move forward.
The power of feedback is not in the comment itself. The power is in what ākonga do with it.
Ākonga may receive helpful feedback, but if they do not understand it, ignore it, feel judged by it, or make no change because of it, the feedback has not yet become learning. For feedback to make a difference, ākonga need to be active participants. They need to seek it, listen to it, make sense of it, and use it to improve their next attempt.
This is where the Habits of Mind matter. Using feedback well requires ākonga to practise:
Listening with understanding — hearing the message without immediately defending or dismissing it.
Managing impulsivity — pausing before rushing into a change.
Thinking flexibly — being open to a different strategy or approach.
Thinking about thinking — reflecting on the choices they made as a learner.
Questioning and posing problems — asking for clearer or more useful information.
Striving for accuracy — checking, refining, and improving the quality of their work.
Remaining open to continuous learning — seeing feedback as part of growth, not as criticism.
One of the shifts we are teaching ākonga is that feedback should not only arrive at the end. Skilful ākonga begin to anticipate feedback. They ask questions before, during, and after learning. Instead of waiting for the teacher to say, “This needs fixing,” they learn to ask, “What part should I improve?” or “What would make this clearer, stronger, or more accurate?”
This helps ākonga move from being passive receivers of feedback to active users of feedback. Over time, they become more capable of noticing quality, identifying gaps, and choosing their next step with greater independence.
At home, whānau can support this by treating feedback as useful information, not as judgement.
Instead of: “What mark did you get?”
Try: “What did the feedback help you understand?”
Instead of: “Did you get it right?”
Try: “What is one thing you can improve in your next attempt?”
Instead of: “That looks fine to me.”
Try: “What are you using to check the quality of your work?”
Instead of: “You should have listened more carefully.”
Try: “Which part of the feedback will change what you do next?”
Instead of: “Ask the teacher what to fix.”
Try: “What question could you ask that would help you improve?”
A helpful home conversation might sound like this:
Where are you trying to get to?
What information do you have about where you are now?
What is your next action?
Which Habit of Mind, or cluster of Habit of Mind, will help you use the feedback well?
Our goal is not simply for ākonga to receive more feedback. It is for them to become better at using feedback. We want ākonga who can seek advice, understand what it means, act on it, and reflect on whether their changes made a difference.
That is how feedback builds capability. Not by telling ākonga who they are, but by helping them see what they can strengthen next.
How learning gets done around here:
We seek feedback to help us grow.
We listen to understand, not just to respond.
We ask questions that make feedback clearer.
We turn feedback into action.
We use feedback to strengthen our next attempt.
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