Does Teachers’ Feedback Serve its Real Purpose? Examining Teachers’ Feedback Practices

Abstract

The real essence of formative feedback has been a missing element in teachers' formative assessment practices in the classrooms. This paper analyses the existing practices of teachers' feedback in the context of classrooms in Pakistan. Mainly teachers were found unable to provide quality feedback that could support students' learning outcomes. The teachers' comments include summative judgments, mainly. A number of challenges faced by the teachers was their lack of understanding and skills to provide formative feedback and limited approach to teaching social studies in the classrooms. The study was done in one district of the country but the findings could be used to examine the existing formative assessment practices nationwide. The findings suggest that teachers need to be engaged in professional development activities enhance their professional practices and skills on a regular basis.