Teachers: Go fly a kite

Recently I was at a park with my family and I overheard two different families teaching their children how to fly a kite. They did not know each other and were standing far enough away from each other so that they did not interfere with their attempts to fly a kite. What I saw and overheard intrigued me as a teacher due to the parallels with their teaching approaches and what we do in our classes around assessment and feedback. As tends to be the case, some of the approaches we effective and others were not, leading to frustration for both the adults and the children.  

While I was initially drawn to these kites to show my toddler son what they look like, the teacher in me quickly noticed different teaching styles that were influencing the levels of enjoyment, skill, and success for the children. While both families used a quick step by step approach to flying a kite, it was the type and use of feedback that differentiated them and the results for their children. One approach was much more effective than the other and led to the children laughing, succeeding, and screaming for more; the other left kids frustrated, angered, and wanting to quit. As teachers, there is much to be learned from these kite flying families that can help us and our students move forward in our teaching and learning.

Timely and Descriptive Feedback

The parents of each family provided direct instruction on how to hold the kite and what to do in order to get the kite off the ground and keep it in the air. One of the big differences between the family that succeeded and the other that did not was the timing of the feedback (as is the case in our classes).  

The children of both families failed in their first attempt to fly the kite and were encouraged to try again. It was the same result on the second attempt. In this moment one parent walked over to the child and gave some feedback on what to try different (we’ll call them child A); the other parents encouraged their kids to try again (child B). On the third attempt child A was able to get the kite off of the ground and fly it for a short time period; child B was again unsuccessful and received more encouragement to “try again”. While child A was flying their kite child B was starting to grow frustrated as was evident from the frown on their face, checking to see what child A was doing, and eventually throwing the kite to the ground (while child A was enjoying the flight of their kite and playing with the wind flow).

Being close enough to the families to hear and see what was going on (my son loved watching the kites which is why we were so close) it was clear that the quick bit of feedback that the parent of child A mentioned to them after their second failed attempt helped them to adjust what they were doing to be able to fly the kite successfully. On the other hand, the lack of feedback that child B received contributed to their level of success (in this case not getting the kite off of the ground). To be fair, child B did receive some feedback from their parents, but it seemed to overload them (i.e. way too much information) and was full of all the things they were not doing (e.g. you’re not trying, you’re not focusing, etc.) which led them to throwing the kite down in frustration and storming off screaming “kites are stupid”.  

So what was it that the parent of child A said that helped them to fly the kite?

“You need the right amount of tension to make this work. Pull too much and you’ll pull it down; too little and it will not get off the ground. Find the sweet spot where there is the right amount of tension to keep the kite flying.”

When I heard the parent saying this I began to watch with intention and I saw child A negotiating the amount of force they pulled with based on the wind’s strength. The kite fell a few times as the child was still learning, but they were able to get it back in the air and increase the length of time the kite was flying for.

I felt bad for child B as it was clear they were not enjoying this experience. Using the type of feedback from the parent of child A, there was too much tension for them in their learning experience and as a result they were pulled down. Had they received a bit more timely and descriptive feedback about what they were doing and ways to adjust (vs. solely on what they were not doing) they likely could have had more success in flying the kite.

Bringing it Back to Our Classes

Providing timely and descriptive feedback for each learner in our classes is an essential aspect of helping them progress in their learning. Helping students to identify and understand what they are doing well and where to make some adjustments (if any) can have enormous impacts not only on their learning progress, but also on their sense of efficacy and esteem in learning. Indeed, learning should be filled with tensions, but of the right amount and types; too much and we’ll likely give up; too little and we’ll not get off the ground to soar in our learning. Yes, providing timely and descriptive feedback can be a challenge, but this is a tension that we as teachers must overcome and navigate effectively to help both our students and ourselves. It is very doable and sustainable, and for those who claim it is not, perhaps they should go learn to fly a kite.