When giving feedback it can harm a teacher because they may not be able to apply the changes, they can not see how the change can lead to better teaching practices. As leaders we may only be trying to change the “tip of the iceberg “for teachers but in reality they need to reflect /change practices that are underneath. 

Feedback is often seen as punitive. If you do not create a sense of partnership and trust, the staff member may never see your ideas and suggestions as helpful. 

Thinking about all the ways that feedback and classroom walkthroughs can go wrong. Definitely, they can be very damaging to the relationship between the teacher and the administrator. I think for an administrator that maybe is new in the building, you know coming in without that that relationship, without knowing the school culture, without knowing the classroom culture. I think getting into a cycle as we're starting to talk about here is really important. You know charging in and trying to get at a different point in the cycle, you know too much feedback, not appropriate feedback, feedback not really considering that 90% that is unseen can definitely be damaging to the credibility of that administrator. you know as a teacher you may ask does this administrator really see who I am as an educator. Do they see what my talents and strengths are, or do they just see me as a cog in the wheel? Someone who is interchangeable and can, you know, is sort of acting as an otamatone who's supposed to just further the school goals in a uniform way. I think also, you know, having that feedback that can really go wrong can be most damaging to students. So if the teacher takes that feedback and either acts on feedback that isn't appropriate, or isn't going to be successful for them. That's going to damage student learning and instruction, or if the feedback is, you know, at its core, good feedback. But the teacher ignores it, then perhaps, maybe they've dug themselves in a little bit deeper into practice. That is not what is in keeping with what our school goals are and to really dig out of that, then it's going to take all that much more effort and trust-building.

Not getting the full context as to why the teacher is making certain moves not having a conversation before you give a recommendation or suggestion could inadvertently hurt, practice in that and relationships actually in that you're not getting the rationale behind, what the teacher is making before giving recommendations for feedback.

Feedback can harm because you may see things that need to be addressed within the classroom and the teacher feels that they have done that particular thing that you stated, at a time when you were not in the room. 

As leaders, we only give feedback on a portion of what we see, so that can be harmful because we don't know the whole picture as the teacher does and sometimes we can sabotage what was really taking place, because we didn't know what was happening. Or also. We don't know what planning went into it. We don't know what the objective was or how they were trying to achieve the objective. What the activities were that they chose to achieve objective fully because we're only seeing a portion, not only of the lesson but a portion of what went into planning the lesson or a portion of their entire practice. We can also harm teachers by harming their confidence because they know how to teach something one way. And then we come in and put our spin or how we would do it and try to make them do what we would do. When that's not even feasible for them, because they can't beat us, and everyone has to do things the way.
Way that works best for them.

I think the traditional way of walkthroughs is what can cause harm, as there is no reflective and reciprocal conversation around practice. Just like evaluations, walkthroughs can create stress and burden the teachers if not structured properly. As such, teachers will see any feedback as critical and negative. This will diminish both the administrator's relationships with the teacher and the effectiveness of the feedback.

If we fail to understand the objective our feedback could damage our credibility, give the teacher the wrong message for what they were attempting to accomplish, or discourage taking risks. 

I have been told that when we walk through, we need to go over information with teachers, watch the lesson, watch the students, pay attention to multiple teaching methods, and examine classroom management. This is not brief. I have been evaluated on how many times I called on students on a particular area of the room. I needed to make sure to call on students all over the room. Things like that are not a brief walkthrough. In order to have successful brief walkthroughs there need to be frequent short ones. Also, when kids see you in and out of their room for a short amount of time, multiple days a week, it is not a big distraction anymore. It becomes part of the routine. 

One way that feedback can be harmful is if you just go in, giving your opinion, as to what a teacher could have been doing without first asking, simply asking a teacher to talk about what was observed and to talk through their reasoning behind using a certain strategy or why are they teaching this particular portion of the math unit right now, you know, teachers have sound reasoning behind, why they're doing what they're doing and we will never know if we don't go in and ask those questions first. So that piece on seeking to understand its pivotal when giving what having meaningful conversations with teachers.

Too much teacher feedback can be counterproductive in that teachers will lose interest and become disinterested. Teacher feedback can also be misunderstood and/or taken the wrong way which can lead to a strained and awkward relationship between the teacher and observer. 

Our feedback could harm teacher practice if the feedback is misunderstood, if the feedback is based on incorrect assumptions, or if it creates an antagonistic relationship with the teacher. 

Depending on the delivery of the feedback we could hurt the relationships we have with our teachers. Our feedback could also hinder them from trying new strategies in the classroom due to the fear of failure and being judged. 

If feedback is solely based on several minutes of watching the classroom, an administrator cannot fully get a clear picture of the classroom dynamic. A suggestion could be made that would not suit the either the teacher or her students. There also doesn't always need to be a response or feedback. 

You could focus on the entirely wrong thing and either give bad advice that is counter to what the teacher is trying to do or show that you don't understand and the teacher loses trust in what you are saying - feedback is all about the relationships and giving poor feedback impacts that. 

If teacher feedback is not on target it could lead teachers in the wrong direction of improvement. I agree it is important to seek more information from teachers to find out what their thoughts and intentions about their practice really are. 

I would say that one of the most common negative issues that can arise with feedback is that teachers begin to see us as adversaries instead of partners. They begin to fear that we are out to get them and close off from working conversations. Because we are not privy, to all of the planning that came before the snapshot we observed, we might inadvertently shut a teacher down from trying new and innovative approaches. 

Educators feel compelled to offer advice (it's what we do) BUT sometimes not engaging can be more effective than offering feedback. If the goal is to make teachers better then, just like MDs, we should "first, do no harm". Basically, don't make things worse by giving unnecessary feedback when you don't have to. 

How can our feedback harm teacher practice? Well, I think right away. It affects our relationship. If we go in with a very negative feedback and negative connotation to what's happening in the room because we're not seeing the bottom half of the iceberg and not even taking it into consideration. Then our relationship is definitely going to be harmed and that level of reality that level of teamwork and trust is really going to be eroded. The other piece is that we can really harm teachers motivation and enthusiasm and we all know that teaching during these times of pandemic have been have been a struggle as it is and often trying to fill the gaps for our students. So I really get concerned about how we end up being and then really dismantling that teachers motivation and enthusiasm for teaching, which probably is exactly why teachers became teachers because they were enthusiastic about working with young people.

Confidence can diminish, grudges, relationships can change and the teacher may not seek help. 

It is very easy to see how we could have a negative impact on a teacher or on the teacher's practice. If we do not observe the entire lesson or discuss the prep that goes into a lesson have we truly put in the work. It is easy to go into a classroom observe 5 minutes of a lesson and pick it apart, but we really need to have all of the background information, or at the very least some of the background to make an informed observation. For example, maybe before going into a classroom we take a look at their lesson plan and when we enter the room they are on a completely different topic. The easy comment is for the teacher to teach what their plan states and to stay on pace, but if we do not know what has been going on the lesson or lessons prior or even 5 minutes prior to us walking in we can not UNDERSTAND what is happening. 

So thinking about the concept of going into the classroom and leaving the feedback of you need to do this, you need to do that. I didn't see such and such that you're supposed to be doing. In my opinion that is just beating down the the teacher and and after so much of that that harm that distrust is created between the administrator and the teacher. So very important that in my mind.

Anyway, it's very important that when I go into these classrooms say it's a science classroom. Well, I may have done very well in science when I was in high school myself, 25 years ago, but this science teacher is in that classroom working with that content each and every day. They've been to college for for that, you know, that degree that they hold and who am I to go in and tell them that they're wrong? Now there there's instances where certain practice that they may have needs to be addressed. But those are fewer and far in between than what I think Dr. Baeder's talking about here.

So again to me, it's very important that I'm not going in these rooms to tell them what? They should be doing, I'm going in the end of the rooms to see what they're doing. And then to have them give me the feedback of what they're doing, why they're doing how that's helping student achievement.

Our feedback could cause harm if we only see one part of an ongoing lesson. Without context we could guide someone in the wrong direction or harm their confidence. If we don’t provide helpful feedback it can harm our relationships and credibility with the faculty. 

When our feedback undermines all the work the teacher did to prepare for the lesson or how they presented it, it can make the teacher feel unappreciated and therefore not want to continue to put forth the effort required to teach effectively. Our feedback needs to be helpful to the teacher in order for them to want to change something about their practice. 

There are a couple of things that come to mind as I think of feedback harming teacher practice. First is giving them more than they can handle or trying to fix everything at once. It is impossible and may be overwhelming to the teacher. The second is not seeing the whole picture and making assumptions about what is or is not happening in the class. This can lead some conversations ending with frustrated teachers and admin. We are a Leader in Me school, and I love seeking first to understand. I find I learn more as I seek to understand. 

If you are always looking to "fix" an issue through feedback, it could actually be counterproductive to teacher growth. As administrators, we have a responsibility to utilize walkthroughs to recognize quality instruction, not necessarily diagnose and fix issues. 

Our feedback could harm a teacher or their practice in a couple of ways. First, our approach may seem negative. If a teacher feels like we are being negative, they may change their practice and it not be for the good. We do not want to alienate teachers either with negativity. Next, if we do not understand the curriculum, we may suggest items that are not accurate. Finally, teachers may feel like their ideas do not matter if we tell them what to do and when to do it. 

Feedback could harm teacher practice in the following ways: teachers may not innovate or try new things if given negative feedback early in the process of trying new things. Teachers also may be reluctant to visitors in their classrooms if they are anxious about feedback.

One of the biggest mistakes that leaders do is try to give too much feedback. This confuses teachers and they lose focus on what they need to do. We make it to broad and too complex and then no one is successful. If we narrow it down to the biggest bang for our buck and help break it down into smaller bite size pieces, we will see greater success. In addition, if we only occassionaly go into classrooms and try to give feedback, we are not seeing the whole picture, we are only seeing snippets and then could be giving unnecessary feedback and losing our crediblility with the teacher. 

Harm can be done if recommendations are made without taking into account the individual learning styles and the needs of each student. Teachers will have a much greater understanding of these areas after developing rapport and relationships over time. Administrative recommendations could potentially unknowingly undermine these items.

The Hippocratic Oath for Instructional Leaders really resonates with me in that it gets to the heart of my biggest complaint about my supervisors when I was a teacher: the fact that supervisors assumed they understood every part of my practice and rarely asked questions. This module provides the strongest articulation of why I bristled at such arrogant assumptions. I'm determined to support teachers different by embracing this Oath. 

In the past, I have been overwhelmed by negative feedback from a principal and it made me feel like giving up. Our profession is hard enough without additional roadblocks. 

Your analogy of an iceberg is spot on. We can only observe a small percentage of what teachers actually do during a classroom observation. Given that, one must be careful not to extrapolate too much of what was observed into what is not observed. One might be able to make some inferences on what occurred "under the surface", but one must limit his feedback to that which is observed. Feedback must be structured carefully so as to inform practice and not do harm. 

As others have commented, there is the risk that we miss the point of the lesson and that usually the teachers are far more knowledgeable in the curriculum content that we can be, and therefore our commentary may be way off the mark. I also feel that some teachers are nervous the minute a school leader walks in, especially if we are not regularly in classrooms interacting with the teachers and students. If the level of comfort and confidence in the relationship is not present, the risk is that the teacher feels judged or misunderstood. 

HOW we approach a teacher with feedback on their instruction, strategies, and classroom management strategies , can set both parties up for tension and failure. I like the idea of seeking to understand first so we don’t jump to false conclusions or understand the why behind what we saw in our walkthrough. It makes me pause and think about the food for thought I have given teachers on my feedback forms without first understanding the why and how that suggestion, even well-intended, could be taken as judgmental or a nuisance from the teacher’s standpoint.

Teachers could take it as criticism and feel that they are being judged unfairly. This could result in them not trying to improve their practice, or it may result in them doing what we the leader have suggested without buy in. This not only harms the teacher, but the students they are teaching as well. 

This correlation with the medical phenomenon iatrogenesis is an argument from false analogy that misleads. That aside, any cure, taken improperly can be a poison; therefore, all communication, no matter the speakers intention can be misinterpreted as harmful to the teacher. Either the teacher misunderstands, is not ready for the feedback, or the feedback might just be misguided in part too.

 Hence, any communication with anyone is fraught with the linguistic danger of polymorphic intentionality and misinterpretation.To the point of the question though, one must always be cognizant that any pharmakon (cure) is also a poison... so the road to hell is paved with good intentions and we need to create a strong relationship to make sure the feedback feed to anyone has a more curative rather the deleterious impact on them. 

If the leader's feedback lacks understanding of where the teacher is with the class and what the teacher's objectives for the class are, then the feedback can become a setback for the teacher rather than something that helps them.