Handling Feedback from Parents and Principals, Students and Standardized Tests

Educators operate in a blizzard of feedback, direct and indirect: your vice principal’s “suggestions” for classroom management, parent complaints about homework or discipline of their child, your class’s test scores which suggest that a surprising number of them aren’t “getting it.” While much of our attention is focused on helping our students learn, there is little out there geared toward helping us learn from feedback that can often feel off base, unfair, or poorly delivered. Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen will look at why feedback is so hard, the triggers we all have that generate defensiveness and distortion, and how to engage in meaningful feedback conversations and use the feedback to drive your own learning as an educator.