Page 136 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Training Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 136
rt to believe they are incapable and do not see any sense in trying harder
since there is no ‘capability within’ that can be further developed through
practising/additional effort. If teachers understand these basic rules in com-
municating feedback on students’ work, they can easily apply them in the
classroom and thereby help students develop a healthy academic self-con-
cept and consequently prevent ESL.
Below are some examples that help clarify the difference between crit-
icism addressed to the student’s behaviour and criticism addressed to a stu-
dent as a person. The examples also include an additional explanation to
help students distinguish between the person and the behaviour.
Example 1: A student (secondary school/high school) has prepared
a science project and is presenting it to the class. His presentation is
not at the best of his capabilities. In term of grades, he gets a C, al-
though he is mostly used to receiving A and B.
Criticism addressed to the behaviour: Your presentation lacked a
bit of clarification at times and I missed greater interaction with
the audience.
Criticism addressed to the child as a person: You were boring and
not clear enough. (unsuitable for academic self-concept)
To state the difference between the student as a person and their mis-
take/behaviour even more clearly, the teacher should also explain the dif-
ference to the student.
Criticism addressed to the behaviour with an explanation: From my
point of view, your presentation lacked a bit of clarification at times and I
missed greater interaction with the audience. When we present something,
we usually think about the audience we will be presenting to and prepare
the presentation from their perspective, trying to engage them as much as
possible and make it as clear as possible for them. I believe you are capa-
ble of doing this and trust that you will be able to improve your presenta-
tion next time.
In this way, the adults (teachers) criticise the inappropriate behaviour/
result/lower achievement, but also communicate to the children that they
can produce the appropriate behaviour/higher achievement because they
are capable of doing that. The message the student receives to help build
his/her (academic) self-concept is ‘I am capable of making a better pres-
entation, I just made a mistake and this mistake does not define me’. As
already explained, it is important that the teacher affirms the difference
136
since there is no ‘capability within’ that can be further developed through
practising/additional effort. If teachers understand these basic rules in com-
municating feedback on students’ work, they can easily apply them in the
classroom and thereby help students develop a healthy academic self-con-
cept and consequently prevent ESL.
Below are some examples that help clarify the difference between crit-
icism addressed to the student’s behaviour and criticism addressed to a stu-
dent as a person. The examples also include an additional explanation to
help students distinguish between the person and the behaviour.
Example 1: A student (secondary school/high school) has prepared
a science project and is presenting it to the class. His presentation is
not at the best of his capabilities. In term of grades, he gets a C, al-
though he is mostly used to receiving A and B.
Criticism addressed to the behaviour: Your presentation lacked a
bit of clarification at times and I missed greater interaction with
the audience.
Criticism addressed to the child as a person: You were boring and
not clear enough. (unsuitable for academic self-concept)
To state the difference between the student as a person and their mis-
take/behaviour even more clearly, the teacher should also explain the dif-
ference to the student.
Criticism addressed to the behaviour with an explanation: From my
point of view, your presentation lacked a bit of clarification at times and I
missed greater interaction with the audience. When we present something,
we usually think about the audience we will be presenting to and prepare
the presentation from their perspective, trying to engage them as much as
possible and make it as clear as possible for them. I believe you are capa-
ble of doing this and trust that you will be able to improve your presenta-
tion next time.
In this way, the adults (teachers) criticise the inappropriate behaviour/
result/lower achievement, but also communicate to the children that they
can produce the appropriate behaviour/higher achievement because they
are capable of doing that. The message the student receives to help build
his/her (academic) self-concept is ‘I am capable of making a better pres-
entation, I just made a mistake and this mistake does not define me’. As
already explained, it is important that the teacher affirms the difference
136
