Timeline for Should I give a brutally honest feedback on course evaluations?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
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| Dec 11, 2022 at 11:48 | comment | added | cpit | @CaptainEmacs Agreed, I've known perfectly reasonable people to sometimes react to (what seemed to me to be) gentle constructive critique as if it were a personal attack, although in my experience that sort of reaction isn't by any means limited to folks from different cultural backgrounds. I'm from the US and have seen people also from here (or who have been here for decades) be deeply offended by pretty standard feedback from peers—and by not-so-constructive criticism in student reviews. | |
| Dec 11, 2022 at 10:42 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | @cpit Yes, but people from other cultures can see an even "neutrally critical" response as a direct and personal attack; not by virtue of an overly entitled attitude, but by simple misinterpretation of what a communication conveys. I have spoken to these people and they were people with integrity and not resistant to suggestions of improvement. | |
| Dec 11, 2022 at 9:10 | comment | added | cpit | Even if the instructor is from somewhere considered non-western (OP only mentions accent—it could just as well be an American student and, say, a Scottish prof), they've surely received enough feedback (i.e. at the very least while completing a PhD) from "westerners" to have a sense of how they tend to give feedback. By which I mean it's not so much "cultural sensitivity" that's required in this instance, but simply compassion and collegiality. Also, feeling hurt by careless or cruel criticism isn't a function of western vs. non-western cultural background—it's a fairly universal response, no? | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 4:22 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | @Lodinn See my response to Lighthouse Keeper. You are right that, taken literally, this may not be the best thing to do - but OP need to realize themselves what "brutally honest" means. Frankly, I never believed in "bashing" as an effective strategy to improve, neither others, nor oneself. Some people seem to think it works or it's simply an obsessive behaviour that they cannot unlearn. I am not talking about the second type, in but the first type of behaviour they need to be confronted with what effect it has on the receiving side. | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 4:12 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | @lighthousekeeper Your are perfectly on point, of course. My first paragraphs are a bit polemic. However, OP chose to write "brutally honest" and my initial paragraphs basically meta-reflected to some extent the style of the comments they would consider to give. | |
| Dec 9, 2022 at 17:42 | comment | added | Lodinn | Frankly, I do not think this is a good approach. I am naturally inclined to bash both others' work and my own, and I know full well it is just not helpful. If I did not do something well, I am usually very much aware of that fact, in likeliness have endured a long internal struggle greenlighting the project, and am very willing to accept I should not have done so (although it will probably be bad for me, rationally). Again, rationally, I understand the merit of releasing something imperfect, but it is still a struggle, every time. And criticizing others the same way does not help them, either. | |
| Dec 9, 2022 at 13:36 | comment | added | lighthouse keeper | I like the third paragraph, but the first two paragraphs avoid the question in a misleading way. Being entitled to do something doesn't imply that it's a good idea to do it. In the case of harshness of feedback, it's might be preferable to adjust the feedback to the receiver, rather than to assume that they're OK with receiving the same level of harshness that one is OK with oneself. | |
| Dec 8, 2022 at 15:47 | history | answered | Captain Emacs | CC BY-SA 4.0 |