“Everything you do is giving them feedback”: A phenomenographic study of teacher conceptions of feedback

Teachers often provide or set up opportunities for feedback within classroom contexts. How they understand what feedback is and how it should be given is essential to their feedback practices. Since feedback is commonly a communicative exchange between teacher and students or students and their peers, it is essential to understand teacher conceptions about feedback. This study explored 18 teachers’ conceptions of feedback and how they were enacted. Phenomenographic analysis identified five hierarchically ordered feedback conceptions associated with three major purposes, that is: i) satisfying stakeholder expectations, ii) maintaining student psycho-social wellbeing, and iii) supporting learning growth. Teachers experienced significant tensions among these three functions, highlighting the importance of ensuring that teacher concerns for student emotional wellbeing do not undermine feedback for academic improvement purposes. Likewise, the study points to the importance of aligning system policies and expectations around feedback with teacher beliefs.