Navigating the pedagogical, relational and moral economies of assessment: an analysis of the development of student teachers’ understandings of feedback

Feedback is often viewed as the aspect of assessment most likely to increase learning, but this potential value is not always fulfilled in practice. This may be because understanding of feedback has become unclear. The literature (particularly policy literature) tends to position conceptions of feedback in dualistic and opposed terms, for example, teacher-centric versus learner-centric. It is a central premise of this study that feedback cannot be understood in binary terms; feedback is complex with differing nuanced conceptions. Furthermore, in opposition to models that present feedback as static, this thesis suggests feedback is dynamic, changeable, personal and varied. This study will therefore posit that we need a multi-dimensional model of feedback where conceptions are capable of co-existing and changing.
Developing a more nuanced understanding of feedback is particularly crucial for the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) sector; these students not only receive feedback as learners but give feedback to their pupils. Their dual role as both feedback donor and recipient makes them a particularly interesting group to study in terms of how their conceptions of feedback are formed. Using a broadly phenomenographic approach, the study tracked eight primary ITE students over three years to understand i) conceptions of feedback as a learner, ii) conceptions of feedback as a teacher and iii) the relationships between developing understanding of feedback as a student and a teacher. Analysis makes use of three economies (relational, pedagogical and moral) enabling meaning to be attributed to the variation of experiences and understanding between participants. Several themes are therefore identified including the significance of dialogue / relationships within feedback and the influence of performativity. The discussion also raises broad implications for practice, not just in ITE, where the study was carried out, but also for schools and Higher Education.