Two pupils receive exactly the same feedback. One reads it, makes changes, and improves their work. The other is disheartened and leaves the work unchanged. What explains the different responses?
The answer may lie less in the feedback itself and more in what pupils believe about their ability to improve.
One useful lens is self-efficacy: a pupil’s belief that they can successfully complete a task or improve through effort and action. If we want pupils to act on our feedback, then it’s not just a case of giving good feedback. We also need to think about the beliefs pupils bring to that feedback.
According to Bandura (1994), people’s beliefs in their efficacy are developed by a number of sources of influence. Two particularly powerful sources of self-efficacy are repeated experiences of improvement and seeing others improve.
How mastery experiences increase pupil self-efficacy
One way we can develop self-efficacy in pupils is by providing mastery experiences. These come when we complete a task or overcome a challenge. Every mastery experience provides evidence. It’s a reminder that, “I couldn’t do this before, but now I can.” An accumulation of these strengthens the belief that future improvement is possible.
Mastery experiences do not have to come from achieving a distant end goal. For example, they might come from breaking down a larger task into sub-goals or from recognising small improvements in performance along the way. Comparing a first draft to a final draft, for example.
This matters for feedback. Pupils who have repeatedly experienced improvement are more likely to see feedback as helpful guidance for what to do next. Pupils who lack these experiences may be more likely to see feedback as confirmation of what they cannot do.
Making improvement visible through feedback
If pupils develop self-efficacy by observing improvement in others, then teachers should look for ways to make that improvement visible. Rather than thinking only about individual feedback, we can create opportunities for pupils to see how their peers improve too. We show that progress is possible and that feedback can help bring it about.
One way to do this is through Show Call. In Teach Like a Champion, Lemov describes a process of taking and revealing pupil work. As teachers circulate, they identify examples worth sharing and capture them. These are then revealed to the class and discussed collectively. This creates numerous opportunities to make improvement visible:
Good to Great: revealing an initial piece of work before discussing and implementing improvements. Live redrafting: improving a response in real time and making the decision-making process visible. Spotting strengths and next steps: identifying what is working well before discussing how it could be developed further. Comparing versions: showing a first attempt alongside an improved version so that progress becomes visible. Celebrating revision: highlighting examples where pupils have successfully acted on feedback.
While these approaches provide specific feedback on a task, they also serve a broader purpose. By making improvement visible, they help pupils develop the belief that they can improve through effort and action.
Feedback is most powerful when pupils believe they can improve.
By helping pupils experience improvement themselves and observe it in others, we can build a classroom culture where feedback is received positively.
Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachandran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71 – 81). New York: Academic Press. (Reprinted in H. Friedman [Ed.], Encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998).
Lemov, D. (2021) Teach Like a Champion 3.0: 63 techniques that put students on the path to college. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.
