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Verbal Vs. Written Feedback

By Mark Richards,

24 Jan 2020

It is the season of the cup final - the FA Cup, the Champions League, the Play-Offs...

and there's another battle of the heavyweights going on: Written Feedback vs.

Verbal Feedback.

So, who comes out on top? Marking and feedback has become one of the biggest bones of contention in schools.

It is certainly one of the key things that adds significantly to the workload of a teacher.

It is widely recognised that giving feedback to students is one of the biggest drivers for progress that there is - but it seems that it is very difficult for schools to decide how best to give this feedback. Whole-school marking policies Most schools have a whole-school marking and assessment policy.

Such policies are designed to create a consistent approach.

Of course, this makes sense but it doesn't allow for the differences between subjects.

The kind of feedback that is needed for a subject such as English might not be the best method for Maths, for example.

Too often subjects find themselves being forced to comply with a whole-school policy that really doesn't fit their subject.

It is often a case of trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Regardless of what the expectations will be for giving oral and written feedback, any successful whole-school policy should not be a 'one-size-fits-all' document.

It needs to let subjects breathe and support their individuality and uniqueness. Marking is for students not Ofsted A common failing of many school marking policies is that teachers are expected, quite simply, to do too much.

It's as if some schools believe that if there is clear evidence of lots of marking - and both oral and written feedback being given to students - then somehow it constitutes excellent feedback. It doesn't. What's more, it's almost as if the marking is being done for the Ofsted inspectors to see and not to help the students to improve. Does the feedback bring about progress? In simple terms, excellent feedback is feedback that prompts the students to try to make improvements to their work and to make progress in their learning.

This is best done straightaway, so that they have an immediate opportunity to act on the feedback.

Where this is not feasible, it is important that students are directed back to targets set and comments made when they revisit that skill at a later date. For example, in English, a student might be given feedback on a writing a persuasive speech.

It might not be practical for students to write another speech immediately after being given this feedback.

Indeed, it might be 6 weeks or 6 months before they revisit persuasive speeches again.

But, when they do, the original feedback that was given must be referred to. Written or oral: which is best? The obvious advantage of written feedback is that it can be referred back to again and again.

Oral feedback is gone in a second.

What happens if the student forgets what has been said? The problem with written feedback is the amount of time it takes to write.

So, what is the answer? Consider the class as a whole and each individual within it and decide which the best way of securing progress is.

This might mean written feedback for some, oral feedback for others - and revisiting some aspects of a lesson with the whole-class.