Reflections following the interrogating spaces podcast, ‘compassionate feedback,’
This podcast was really insightful in compassion, not only focused on assessment, but within the learning environment as a whole. I believe that compassion is key to building trust with students. The discussion within this podcast really reflected this and made me think of ‘Teaching to Transgress, Bell Hooks,’ a book that has deeply affected and inspired my teaching practice.
The idea of compassion as a collaborative rather than individual process was discussed within the podcast and the notion that it should extend to all members of the learning community, staff and students alike. This helps to embed it as a philosophy within the University environment and to be seen as the ‘norm’. Liz Bunting refers to theorist ‘‘Youssef Wikid, who writes about how teachers can show compassion when they endeavor to see things from the students perspective.’ I believe that this should also extend to technicians and staff members alike which would help all to internalize these practices.
A key principle to this would be the use of non-violent communication (NVC), ‘Nonviolent Communication is a way of being in the world that has the purpose is to serve life and to create connection in such a way that everyone’s needs can be met through natural care.’ [Center for Nonviolent Communication: 09/03.24]. Importantly, within the University setting it’s acknowledging that as a tutor it’s important to be mindful of the language that we use, as well as our body language and intonations of our voice, as all of these can be signals to students about how well their work is being received. Dr Anna Troisi refers to NVC as the point being able to connect to one another in a more conscious way and goes on to say that, ‘ it is more a sort of ongoing reminder to keep our attention really focused on giving from the heart, and at the same time experiencing fully the joy that comes from reaching another person’s life. And to arrive to a mutual desire to communicate with compassion.’
Within the context of assessment, it’s a reminder that as educators we are required to simply evaluate the work by observing what we see in front of us and then make a helpful suggestion as to how the student could improve it. Steering away from emotive language that conveys excitement, negativity or other emotions, such as ‘excellent’ and ‘unfortunately’ as this could be perceived by the students as a judgement on their work or performance, relating to the taste of the tutor. An impact of which could be that the student creates work that they feel the tutor would like rather than what would be personally interesting or beneficial to them and their goals.
Holding space in critique and involving students in that process, encouraging students to share helpful feedback rather than saying something is ‘nice’ or ‘good, and also ensuring that each student gets equal opportunity and time for feedback, is essential to the act of compassion within the classroom. Reminiscent of my learnings from Hooks, ‘As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence’ and that ‘education is the practice of freedom.'[Hooks, 1994]