Instant feedback & recognition

As a primary school teacher you know the importance of recognising children's achievements and look to celebrate them at every opportunity. It helps children grow in confidence, self belief and I swear on occasions even height, they walk a little bit taller when Miss/Sir tell them they are awesome!

As a teacher I used to get the same kind of feedback from my class. Children tell you when they loved the lesson that you planned and delivered, you can see it on their faces, absolutely engrossed and engaged. If you missed all of the visual clues you hear it as they charge out of the classroom excited and desperate to share with the world what they have learned/made/done. That noise is your feedback and it used to make me smile with pride.

I then moved into the corporate world and that instant feedback was lost. I moved to the world of annual reviews, where positive feedback was limited and spaced out. The instant feedback was gone. At the time I thought this was OK I mean I didn't need to be told I was doing a good job, the data, deadlines and happy customers were proof that I was doing OK. I developed a routine of reflecting back on my successes and recognising my achievements on a semi annual basis initially so that I had something to talk about in PDRs but then later to recognise that I was actually OK at my job, and I thought that was enough for me. I did not need external recognition.

Then I moved back into education but this time at the HE level. I was nervous initially, it was a new world to me, but it turns out I love it. I work hard like every educational professional (I am not special). I try to make sessions interesting, fun and engaging as I want my students to get the most out of their time with me, just as I did for my children back in my old classroom. On occasions students give me a bit of instant feedback - "that was alright today, thanks" not quite like the faces of awe when I was in the primary classroom but I take it and cherish it. It is a massive step forward from the corporate world and I will be honest I like it. It makes me feel connected to the groups I teach and that I am doing the job to a decent standard.

Yesterday though I really got hit in the "feels". I got an email from the university with some positive feedback from some of my students about my teaching and I got that feeling like I was back in my own classroom. The feedback was lovely and I welled up a little. It turns out that my students know that I do care about them, their grades and their wellbeing and they appreciate the work I do for them. I don't need external recognition to know that I work hard and try to teach as best I can but it turns out that it feels lovely to be seen for the effort and care you put in. I am at the beginning of my HE journey and I feel immensely privileged to work with the team of professionals in my department that I like to think of as friends and the amazing students I get to work with, they are inspiring and they are the future of education. I hope that I can continue to do my little part to help them get where they want to be.

Recognition can be a simple "yeah that was interesting today, thanks" but when something comes through that does recognise all the little things that you do day in and day out to teach, empower and develop the people you work with it is amazing. I think I feel a bit taller today.