Research on the importance of ‘feedback literacy’ (helping learners to understand and use their teachers’ feedback to improve their learning) and ‘student agency’ (where students take an independent and active role when studying) with English secondary school-age students has been overlooked (Ketonen et al., 2020). In a previous blog post based on my doctoral study, I shared unique insight into how ‘Lead Learners’ (that is, those identified as high-ability students) self-manage their response to feedback in key stage three (KS3, ages 11–14 years) in their quest to ‘achieve Mastery’ (that is, to reach the highest standard of achievement in KS3). Building on these findings, this blog post presents three recommendations for schools and teachers and has implications for KS3 assessment and feedback policy and practice.
Recommendation 1: Encourage students to network with their teachers and peers
In my study, ‘Mastery networking’ involves interactions between the Lead Learner and teacher(s) and the Lead Learners themselves to establish what it takes to achieve Mastery. When Lead Learners were not sure what Mastery looked like, for example, they felt they had to maximise opportunities to seek Mastery knowledge from more than one source. Hence ‘networking with (their) peers and teachers’ proved beneficial in obtaining further feedback, helping Lead Learners decide how to respond and refine their work accordingly. Therefore, I advise educators to plan learning activities that promote interactions between students and teachers.
