Assess and/or give feedback for learning, with a focus on ‘compassionate pedagogy’
Introduction
My LCC Lecturer post is my first full-time academic position. I have taught part-time at other British universities, wherein my work was to supervise and assess undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations. I have consistently received positive comments from my colleagues for my feedback style before and at LCC. Compassionate pedagogy is formally practised in my programme and is encouraged at UAL (Bunting and Hill nd). In this case study, I reflect on ‘compassionate pedagogy’ and the pros and cons I have faced operating within it while providing written feedback.
Evaluation
I have had years of experience receiving and working with nuanced feedback on my creative and academic work – through a master’s in creative writing, being supervised for a PhD, being an editor working with authors, and being an author myself working with editors. My teaching practice is informed by putting myself in my students’ shoes, which isn’t a big leap for me, having been a student myself till recently (2024). This empathy is key in compassionate pedagogy (Waghid 2014, cited in Ahern 2019), combined with a daily motivation to help students (Ahern 2019).
How compassionate pedagogy is practiced, however, can vary. Specifically for feedback on the MA Final Major Projects (FMPs), I have received feedback from colleagues that I should focus on the positives and not on what the student missed from the Assessment Brief; that the feedback should celebrate the students’ development and not rationalise their grade. However, I have been conflicted as – putting myself in students’ shoes – how can students improve if they are not aware of their mistakes? A student can request a meeting for feedback clarification, but most do not avail this. A further complication is that since the FMP is the last unit students submit before graduation, should the focus be on celebrating their student journey as many would not be returning to academia soon or at all (since our MA is a vocational one, training students to join the industry)? These are concerns I also shared during my ROT with Claudia (Misra 2025).
Compassionate pedagogy includes inclusive practices (Bunting and Hill nd) and concerns about the cost of living crisis affecting our students (KCL nd). I have had discussions with my more experienced/senior colleagues about providing our students with a supporting environment while teaching them professional practices that will be required in their careers (discussed by Sors and Bloom 2024).
Moving Forward
The next steps I have planned are to educate myself more on the theory surrounding compassionate pedagogy and consider its benefits and drawbacks within my teaching practice. I will also engage in discussions within my programme this summer in programme meetings/Away Days about the differing ways we perceive compassionate pedagogy. Furthermore, I am inspired by the research that Brooks (2008) conducted at her institution on surveying students on the formative and summative feedback they received. I wish to conduct a student survey within our MA programme to capture student response to the written feedback they receive. This could potentially be my Action-Research Project in the PgCert (UAL nd).
I wish to encourage my students and celebrate their developments while balancing that with providing them constructive feedback so that they can continue improving. With my planned actions, my aim is to improve my written feedback style within compassionate pedagogical practices.
References
Ahern, S (2019) ‘Compassionate Pedagogy in Practice’, UCL. Available at: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/digital-education/2019/07/03/compassionate-pedagogy-in-practice/ (Accessed 18 March 2025).
Brooks, K (2008) ‘”Could do Better?”: students’ critique of written feedback’. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/could-do-better-students-critique-written-feedback (Accessed 18 March 2025).
Bunting and Hill (nd) ‘Belonging Through Compassion’, UAL. Available at: https://belongingthroughcompassion.myblog.arts.ac.uk (Accessed 18 March 2025).
KCL (nd) ‘Breaking point: the cost of living crisis in London and what can be done about it’. Available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/report-breaking-point-cost-of-living-crisis-in-london-and-what-can-be-done-about-it (Accessed 18 March 2025).
Misra, S (2025) ‘Review of Teaching: Observation of my teaching by a peer’, Sonali’s PgCert. Available at: https://studyon.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/03/17/review-of-teaching-observation-of-my-teaching-by-a-peer/ (Accessed 18 March 2025).
UAL (nd) ‘PgCert Academic Practice’. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning-exchange/professional-development/pgcert-academic-practice (Accessed 18 March 2025).
Waghid, Y (2014) Pedagogy Out of Bounds: Untamed Variations of Democratic Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.