Challenging Learning Through Feedback

Using feedback to enhance learning 

Feedback has the potential to dramatically improve student learning – if done correctly. In fact, providing high quality feedback is one of the most critical roles of a teacher. But if feedback is not done correctly it can have a minimal – or even negative effect – on learning. Challenging Learning Through Feedback provides educators with the tools they need to establish clear learning intentions and success criteria in order to craft high quality feedback and avoid common feedback mistakes. Readers will learn

• When feedback is (and isn’t) working
• How to design feedback so that it answers three essential questions
• Strategies for crafting clear Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
• How to teach students to give high quality feedback to themselves and others

Written by educational innovators James Nottingham and Jill Nottingham, this book is full of specific examples for educators who want to understand the qualities of excellent feedback and how to craft it.  

James Nottingham is co-founder and director of Challenging Learning, a group of companies with 30 employees in 6 countries. His passion is in transforming the most up-to-date research into strategies that really work in the classroom. He is regarded by many as one of the most engaging, thought-provoking and inspirational speakers in education.

His first book, Challenging Learning, was published in 2010 and has received widespread critical acclaim. Since then, he has written 6 books for teachers, leaders, support staff, and parents. These books share the best research and practice connected with learning; dialogue; feedback; the learning pit; early years education; and growth mindset.

Before training to be a teacher, James worked on a pig farm, in the chemical industry, for the American Red Cross, and as a teaching assistant in a school for deaf children. At university, he gained a first-class honours degree in education (a major turnaround after having failed miserably at school). He then worked as a teacher and leader in primary and secondary schools in the UK before co-founding an award-winning, multi-million-pound regeneration project supporting education, public and voluntary organisations across north east England.

Skolvärlden (Swedish Teaching Union) describes James as “one of the most talked about names in the world of school development” and the Observer newspaper in the UK listed him among the Future 500 - a “definitive list of the UK′s most forward-thinking and brightest innovators.”

Jill Nottingham’s background is in teaching, leadership and consultancy.  She has been a teacher and leader in kindergartens and schools in some of the more socially deprived areas of North East England.  During that time, she developed many approaches to teaching children how to learn that are still being used in schools and taught in universities today.

Jill has also trained with Edward de Bono at the University of Malta, and has studied for a Masters degree in Education with the University of Newcastle.

Jill now leads Challenging Learning’s pre-school and primary school consultancy.  She has written many of the Challenging Learning teaching materials, has edited the others, and is currently writing 3 books for schools and 2 books for pre-schools.  In amongst this she finds time to be the mother of 3 gorgeous children!