Feedback

Using feedback as a tool for your self-assessment

Carrying out a self-assessment is an enriching experience through which we can learn a lot about ourselves. Nevertheless, there is much to be gained in asking for feedback from others. You can get feedback or external input from many different kinds of people. More experienced colleagues or superiors and colleagues you trust are a natural choice. However, it is also important and useful to get insight from the young people you work with and for.

Getting input from the young people you work with

The young people you work with, their issues and aspirations, should be at the centre of concern in youth work. Finding out more about how they perceive your competence for the work you do with them is important for the authenticity and credibility of your self-assessment, whether you go through it as an individual, in a team or in an organisation.

There are many ways to access input from the young people. Some of them are part and parcel of regular youth work practice and involve different kinds of participatory evaluation methods. Nevertheless, for those of you who wish to include this dimension as part of your assessment process, it is worthwhile thinking explicitly about how you can access input from the young people you work with.

Some examples include:

Adding some questions to evaluate your (or your team or organisation’s) performance / competence in activity evaluations filled out by participants
Group or one-on-one discussions with the participants of your activities about their experience of your work with them. For the credibility and legitimacy of this kind of discussion, and to be able to include transcripts or notes from these in your Portfolio as proof of competence, you should invite a colleague to attend and record the discussions. It is important to be as transparent as possible.
Testimonies / direct statements by your participants about your work. These should be written and in the first person, but can be delivered anonymously if you think it is more appropriate.
Ask one or more of the young people you work with to give you feedback on the Portfolio assessment you have prepared. Here you need to think carefully about the competence of the young people concerned. Again, for the sake of transparency, such conversations should be conducted with another colleague present.
You may feel embarrassed or insecure about asking your participants how they feel about your work directly. The participants may also feel insecure, not want to “hurt your feelings” and self-censor what they say to your face. Even if this is the case, it is extremely important to do it. The Portfolio is a self-assessment tool and it relies on a delicate balance of self-perception confronted with outside perceptions to provide a credible and legitimate evaluation. You can organise any of the above activities anonymously, if you think this kind of dynamic might change the way the young people interact with you. Technology opens up a lot of avenues for receiving input anonymously.

If you are conducting a ‘team’ portfolio exercise, then ideally each member of the team would give feedback to and receive feedback from the whole team, whether individually or collectively, in addition to asking for feedback from at least one person ‘external’ to the team.

Feedback from colleagues or external people

Think about some people you trust and who have direct experience of your work and performance in youth work. Who you choose, and how much of your self-assessment you discuss with them, is up to you. The important thing to remember is that the person or people must know your work well.

How do I choose a “Feedbacker”?

Getting feedback is an essential part of the Portfolio learning and development process. Without an “outside eye” on your self-assessment, it is difficult to ‘validate’ it. In other words, it is difficult to show that it is more than your own personal opinion, and therefore not biased or exaggerated.

It is up to you to choose the person or people who will provide feedback on your self-assessment. This checklist will help you make a decision about who to ask to provide feedback.
The person knows you well in the youth work context in which you are active.
The person is familiar with youth work concepts and practices in general and has some experience of working with young people themselves.
The person has some experience of training, mentoring, counselling or providing professional feedback to colleagues.
The person is willing to conduct the feedback process with you and act as your external validator in case you want to access the open badges method of certification for your Portfolio, including all the tasks that this requires of them.
The person is “well-seen” and “respected” by the wider youth work community of practice in which you both participate.
The person is able to give you constructive criticism (i.e. independent, external, not necessarily a close friend, not your mum, etc.).

Remember! You can use more than one person to provide feedback, and you may decide to have a different person act as the Feedbacker for different parts of your self-assessment

More information on giving and receiving feedback

Feedback is a dynamic process that should go in two directions. Especially if you are using the Portfolio in a team or for organisational development purposes, the ‘giving feedback’ part of this dynamic will be just as important as the ‘receiving feedback’ part.

What feedback is and what it is not?¹

WHAT FEEDBACK SHOULD BE	WHAT NOT TO SAY Why?	WHAT TO SAY Why?
Descriptive	“This is bad!” or “This is good!” Because criteria for this judgement are subjective and other people can interpret them differently	“Your loud talking during the role-play made me feel stressed.” Because it is up to the other person to decide what to do with the feedback; keep your observation to a description of what happened and what you felt at that moment
Specific	“You are dominant!” Because the way of saying it is both unhelpful and confrontational, and doesn’t tell the other person anything specific about how you experienced the situation	“While making that decision, I had the impression that you dominated the space for discussion and that I did not have space to contribute ...” Because this indicates what you experienced, and how you experienced the situation
Appropriate	“What you need to do …” Because this presents your suggestion as a fact rather than as an opinion Because this indicates a projection of your needs onto the other person	“What I see as your needs …” Because you are speaking on your own behalf which helps prevent any reactions or opinions being presented as facts Because this indicates that you are thinking about the needs of the other and what they might be able to do about the feedback
Useful	If a person is unable to change something, there is no point in mentioning it. Because it just makes the other person feel powerless if they cannot change the thing you point out, and pointing it out is not constructive
Wanted	Feedback is most effective when wanted by the receiver. Because if it is not wanted, it won’t be accepted as constructive and worked with
At the right time	If at all possible, feedback should be given as soon as the impression was made. Because if it is given much later the other person will not remember the situation as well, and will not be able to consider the feedback constructively
Clear	Ask the receiver of feedback whether they need any clarification of your point. Because you may not have made yourself clear and they may not understand it completely

WHAT FEEDBACK SHOULD BE

WHAT NOT TO SAY

Why?

WHAT TO SAY

Why?

Descriptive

“This is bad!” or “This is good!”

Because criteria for this judgement are subjective and other people can interpret them differently

“Your loud talking during the role-play made me feel stressed.”

Because it is up to the other person to decide what to do with the feedback; keep your observation to a description of what happened and what you felt at that moment

Specific

“You are dominant!”

Because the way of saying it is both unhelpful and confrontational, and doesn’t tell the other person anything specific about how you experienced the situation

“While making that decision, I had the impression that you dominated the space for discussion and that I did not have space to contribute ...”

Because this indicates what you experienced, and how you experienced the situation

Appropriate

“What you need to do …”

Because this presents your suggestion as a fact rather than as an opinion

Because this indicates a projection of your needs onto the other person

“What I see as your needs …”

Because you are speaking on your own behalf which helps prevent any reactions or opinions being presented as facts

Because this indicates that you are thinking about the needs of the other and what they might be able to do about the feedback

Useful

If a person is unable to change something, there is no point in mentioning it.

Because it just makes the other person feel powerless if they cannot change the thing you point out, and pointing it out is not constructive

Wanted

Feedback is most effective when wanted by the receiver.

Because if it is not wanted, it won’t be accepted as constructive and worked with

At the right time

If at all possible, feedback should be given as soon as the impression was made.

Because if it is given much later the other person will not remember the situation as well, and will not be able to consider the feedback constructively

Clear

Ask the receiver of feedback whether they need any clarification of your point.

Because you may not have made yourself clear and they may not understand it completely

Tips for giving and receiving feedback

GIVING	RECEIVING
Think about the needs of the person receiving the feedback. Is what you have to say really relevant? Does it speak to something they can work on or change? Does it really respond to their needs or is it a projection of your own?	Listen actively and carefully. Hear the feedback through to the end and consider what it is trying to tell you.
Avoid being judgemental as far as possible (avoid the use of “you”). Use “I” statements and avoid speaking on behalf of others (“we”).	Try to remain open to what is being said to you. If you notice that you are becoming defensive, make a mental note of any questions or disagreements and check them out later.
If you encounter defensiveness or an emotional reaction to your feedback, deal with those reactions first rather than trying to convince, reason, or supply additional information.	If you are unsure about what the person giving feedback is trying to get at, try to rephrase what you have just heard and check with them that you have understood what was said correctly.
	Think carefully about the feedback you have received. Don’t react immediately to what you have heard.
	Go back to your self-assessment and check whether you want to change or add anything.

If you want to find out more about giving and receiving feedback, consult the chapter on Training in Teams in the T-kit Training Essentials.

[1] Adapted from T-Kit Training Essentials, p. 102. Available online: http://youth-partnership-eu.coe.int/youth-partnership/documents/Publications/T_kits/6/4_action_2.pdf

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the Portfolio

The Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio is a tool to help those doing youth work, primarily youth workers and youth leaders, but also managers and administrators, to assess and further develop their youth work competence and that of the people under their supervision.