Abstract
When providing feedback, teachers are concerned not only with the simple transmission of information, but also with motivational and interpersonal dynamics. To mitigate these concerns, teachers may inflate feedback by reducing negative or increasing positive content. The resulting difference between initial judgments and feedback may be even more drastic for ethnic minority students: In non-communicated judgments, negative stereotypes may result in more negative judgments, whereas in feedback, concerns about being or appearing prejudiced may inflate feedback towards ethnic minority students. These hypotheses were tested in a sample of 132 German teacher students in a 2 (between subjects: feedback vs. non-communicated judgment) × 2 (within subjects: target student's migration background: Turkish vs. none) design in which participants read supposed student essays and provided their written impressions to the research team or the supposed student. Findings revealed that teacher students’ feedback was more positive than their non-communicated judgments on a multitude of dimensions. Contrary to expectations, these effects were not stronger when the student had a Turkish migration background. Instead, teacher students rated the essay of the student with a Turkish migration background more favorably both in the judgment and feedback conditions. Our results suggest that teachers adapt their initial judgments when giving feedback to account for interpersonal or motivational dynamics. Moreover, ethnic minority students may be especially likely to receive overly positive feedback. While the motivational/interpersonal dynamics may warrant some inflation in feedback, negative consequences of overly positive feedback, for which ethnic minority students may be especially vulnerable, are discussed.
Highlights
Receiving feedback is an integral part of learning, informing students about where they stand in relation to specific criteria such as their learning goals (Hattie & Timperley, 2007)
In Germany, this may be the case for students with a Turkish migration background since negative stereotypes about their academic abilities are well-known among teacher students (e.g., Bonefeld & Karst, 2020; Froehlich et al, 2016)
Participants who could reasonably be expected to be subject to negative stereotypes based on their own migration background (e.g., Turkish)—and might not be concerned about being prejudiced against this group—were excluded from the analyses, as well as those who did not fill in their migration background (n = 15)
Summary
Receiving feedback is an integral part of learning, informing students about where they stand in relation to specific criteria such as their learning goals (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Hearing that one’s performance was substandard can be hurtful, frustrating, and threatening to one’s self-concept and motivation (Ilies et al, 2010; Kerssen-Griep, 2001; Weidinger et al, 2016) With these reactions in mind, giving feedback to others can be a challenge. People worry about demoralizing the recipient of feedback or hurting the relationship (Brown & Levinson, 1987; Rosen & Tesser, 1970) This may especially apply to teachers, as they are tasked with students’ learning and with their social and emotional well-being. In Germany, this may be the case for students with a Turkish migration background since negative stereotypes about their academic abilities are well-known among teacher students (e.g., Bonefeld & Karst, 2020; Froehlich et al, 2016)
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