How to Provide Constructive Feedback

Constructive feedback is one of the best ways to help children develop confidence and support them toward success. Highlighting their efforts and encouraging self-reflection allow children to develop A Confident Mindset™. Practical approaches like Glow and Grow help you empower children to become capable and resilient and face future challenges with confidence.

But how can you make your feedback sound meaningful and empowering? 

Apply the Glow technique, in which you compliment children sincerely and factually based on their performance. After that, use the Grow technique to provide constructive feedback to help children identify actionable steps for improvements. Make suggestions for change and offer practice opportunities for children. Let’s learn about it in detail! 

What is Constructive Feedback?

Constructive feedback is a thoughtful way of offering suggestions and tips for improvement to children. It mainly focuses on their approach and behavior, not their outcomes. Providing constructive feedback to children is essential to helping them grow.

Glow and Grow: A Child-Friendly Approach to Provide Constructive Feedback

The Glow and Grow method is a supportive and effective way of providing constructive feedback to children. This technique works very well because it offers praise and criticism at a balanced level that helps children feel appreciated while identifying areas for improvement.

The Glow and Grow method can be a terrific tool for coaches and can also be used by parents at home. Children can even use it with other peers to practice providing meaningful feedback. As indicated by its name, it is made of two main parts:

Part 1: Glow

The Glow focuses on something the child did well and gives a real and specific compliment based on their performance or effort. A coach may say, "You played really well today," or a parent may say, "I'm so impressed by how neatly you finished your homework today." The purpose of the Glow is to give the child a boost in confidence.

Part 2: Grow

The Grow involves providing constructive feedback to help the child see how they can improve. You can emphasize actionable steps and areas for improvement in a gentle tone. For example, "Next time, try speaking a little louder so everyone can hear your great ideas." The Grow component promotes growth without discouragement and helps guide children to develop A Confident Mindset™.

Note: Before giving a Glow and Grow to somebody, whether a child, a colleague, or someone else in your life, ask for their permission to make them feel supported rather than called out. For example, “Jane, can I give a Glow and Grow?” Or something along those lines works well, and be sure to respect their answer! You’ll also want to start with the person’s name, so if Jane says “yes,” you can follow up with, “Jane, you do such a great job sharing stories with your friends; remember to listen and give them a chance to share stories with you as well.”

Why is Constructive Feedback Important For Children?

• Builds Confidence: Constructive feedback acknowledges a child's achievements and effort and boosts their self-esteem and motivation for further effort.
• Promotes Growth: By providing feedback on effort and progress, children can work to achieve their goals.
• Makes Them Responsible: Constructive feedback enables children to understand the responsibility for their actions and outcomes, making them accountable.
• Encourages Independence: As children learn to act on feedback, they become more confident in making decisions and solving problems independently.
• Improves Self-awareness: Constructive feedback makes children reflect on their actions and contributes to a better understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement.

Conclusion

Providing constructive feedback to children promotes their confidence, resilience, and growth. It goes beyond being an improvement tool; it is the leading process to self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses. By using our Glow and Grow method, you can help children improve self-awareness and find areas for improvement.

The Glow involves giving sincere compliments to children according to their performance. Meanwhile, the Grow is about providing constructive feedback through supportive suggestions. In this way, you lead them graciously to build confidence and succeed in life.

If you want your children to shine with confidence, connect with Namita Prasad, the founder of A Confident Mindset™ and esteemed author of The Power of Why Not.