Complex Ecosystems

complexecosystems

how to make the most out of formative feedback whilst at GSA

feedback - learning Can I ask something that might sound a bit daft?

What actually counts as feedback? Like… sometimes it’s a crit, sometimes it’s a passing comment, or an eyebrow raise. It’s hard to tell.

Especially if you didn’t come through a typical art school route. A few of us were saying it feels like there’s this unspoken system, like feedback’s happening, but we’re not always in on it.

It’s not that it’s not useful. It’s just… sometimes I don’t realise it was feedback until much later. Or I’m not sure what to do with it.

So not just about passing on advice, but more like something we’re all part of?

That makes a lot of sense. I think sometimes the formal stuff, like grades, overshadows the bits that are actually helping me grow.

I like that. It doesn’t tell you what feedback should be, just helps you notice what it could be?

I think about that too. It’s not always obvious, is it? Unlike summative assessment and feedback, formative assessment and feedback can take many forms – crits, tutorials, peer to peer, etc. It can be staged anywhere. This can make it hard to pin down, right?

Sometimes we think we’re giving feedback all the time. But it doesn’t always land the way we imagine.

Pitt and Winstone (2023) talk about feedback as a kind of ecosystem. I like that image. Messy, but alive.

Exactly, it’s not just a transactional dialogue between giving and receiving. It’s more like a shared practice.

That is exactly what formative assessment and feedback is meant to do – build your confidence and capacity in your practice!

We’ve been trying to map some of this out. Through the Student Consultant work, we’ve gathered thoughts, tensions, reflections… and turned it into this little zine.

It’s not a guide. More like an invitation.

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a space for provocation, a space for development, a space for change.

building - shared - value We consider the hyphen to be an interesting tool through which to investigate the tensions and potentials within the shared responsibility of staff and students throughout feedback processes.

It suggests both a link and a division.

Hyphen [noun]

the sign – used to join words to indicate that they have a combined meaning or that they are linked in the grammar of a sentence, to indicate the division of a word at the end of a line, or to indicate a missing element.

Have you spent time reflecting deeply on the experiences of assessment and feedback, let alone considering the specificity and importance of formative assessment and feedback?

I have, and it has changed how I have progressed with my studies and has grown my appreciation for my peers. The simplicity of time to reflect on these processes embedded into our studies has been integral to the development of my own practice. I hope it can be for yours too.

Voices overlap in shifting tones, insights and questions. We have chosen not to clearly identify where one voice ends and another begins.

We have chosen to build on the work of Edd Pitt & Naomi Winstone’s ‘Enabling and valuing feedback literacies’ 2023. They outline a structure for what constitutes an affective feedback literacy between staff and students. We have responded to their provocation, examining the tensions and perspectives of staff and students in relation to experiences of formative assessment and feedback at GSA. Pitt and Winstone describe the dialogue surrounding assessment and feedback processes as a ‘complex ecosystem’ which, in their article, ‘teachers’ must ‘navigate.’

However, we propose that it is both staff and students who are active in navigating this complex ecosystem.

whose responsibility?

This narrative has been shaped through time spent listening to and working alongside staff and students across GSA. Through workshops, conversations, and shared reflection, we’ve gathered a range of perspectives that speak to the complexity of formative assessment and feedback. What follows is not a fixed model, but a creative and sometimes fictionalised account that surfaces common tensions, hopes, and questions.

We hope it prompts reflection, recognition, and maybe a few new conversations.

staff voice prompt tension student voice

We embed feedback all the time, but it doesn’t always land We say feedback is central to learning, yet what do we mean by that?

Are we spending enough time explaining the positive impact FF has on students, confidence and capacity?

I know we had a chat, but I didn’t realise that was the feedback

Do we take enough time to support student agency in feedback dialogues?

Students are expected to make feedback meaningful, but are they supported to do so?

Can we better share the responsibility for making feedback actionable?

It felt like I had to figure out the feedback on my own

Emotions, identity and institutional pressures all show up in feedback dialogues Feedback is never just technical. It is relational, emotional and personal What might it mean to name the emotional labour in feedback and value it?

Some people just get it. I’m still learning what feedback even is

Do our approaches reward the right kind of encounters?

Not all feedback is verbal or written How might we make room for quiet reflection, different modes of response, or delayed uptake?

Sometimes I just need space to sit with it before I respond

time – emotion – care Scenario. 1 - Arrival I arrived at my first seminar. Met with a round table, too big for the small room. Twenty of us squeezed between its edge and the walls.

Not friends yet, we nervously kept adding chairs until everyone was crammed in. A tin of quirky looking sardines; short fringes, eyebrow piercings and compostable notebooks. For the rest of the semester, we sat at the round table for crits, tutorials, seminars, lunch, meetings, amongst others. It became the centre for discussion. Our tutor didn’t want to get rid of the table – its circular form allowing for a truly communal gathering, a symbol of the alternative pedagogy embedded in the course – but we couldn’t go on like this. I found it confusing at first, how tangled up everything felt. I hadn’t been to an art school before and was surprised when in a tutorial I was not just passed a marked-up version of my submission, but instead asked, how are you doing, you know, personally? We kept talking at the round table. Some people shared their personal traumas, others threw in a reference to the iconic design of the Big Mac, we cried together, and annotated each other’s work – illegible, full of emotion. One day the round presence was gone, replaced by two joined rows of rectangle plastic-coated foldable tables. We still couldn’t all squeeze round.

I think about the round table – a lot. The different processes of feedback enacted in this space. It helps me to understand that feedback processes are a form of emotional labour, requiring significant time and care from both parties. It can be difficult to feel supported in this, but it is an important part of an art school education. Unlike my previous experience, art students are expected to embed their work with emotion, personality and depth. This can naturally make feedback dialogues complex to navigate.

A student responded to a questionnaire we sent out, encapsulating how it can often feel to navigate these complexities: I have struggled with feedback as I feel I react badly to criticism, been like this always, defensive, then it doesn’t go well from there. Maybe it’s just a clash of personality with my tutor. I really want feedback to learn though. Is feedback relating to the one to one? Is there a structure to work to? I want constructive criticism but not judgement, I suppose It is a natural response – to doubt, to question, to clash – when met with a tension. We are not taught how to use feedback, particularly when it is critical or feels like it brushes up against something personal. Part of making this process easier can be a simple acknowledgement of the emotional work behind feedback dialogues. They are often not something easily resolved. It requires time and care to work with feedback and to see it as an ongoing process.

Feedback can often encompass emotional and personal parts, as well as the material work presented. Another student responded to the questionnaire, stating that the value of their formative feedback came through the compassionate understanding between staff and student during the feedback dialogue: This compassionate and understanding response made me feel seen and valued, not as a student with added burdens, but as an equal to my peers. It reinforced my belief that I have a right to pursue education despite any personal challenges.

Productive feedback can be critical and constructive but should always affirm your right to be in the Art School. It may challenge you, be emotional, or ask complex questions, but it should never be dismissive. When there is a deep understanding of the time, emotion and care which goes into these dialogues, feedback can prove to be incredibly effective in developing staff and student partnerships.

measuring what matters Scenario 2 - Elevator Pitch There are twenty of us in the goods lift, intentionally in a novel space, moving slowly between floors, still in use by others. As the doors close, the first student steps forward. They have thirty seconds to present their project and elicit investment.

I stand quietly at the side, part game show host, part referee. My role is simple: keep the pace, stay neutral, this is their moment, not mine.

The student speaks quickly, sharing drawings, holding up flyers, describing ideas and intentions. Pitch finished, the audience, sometimes stunned, sometimes full of questions, begins to invest using fake dollars, Dragons’ Den-style.

They probe, laugh, challenge, and support. I listen.

We repeat the process. The elevator rises and falls. Each project is explored, debated, and valued. It’s noisy, intense, and strangely joyful.

Feedback is immediate but subtle: a flicker of excitement, a quizzical glance, spontaneous laughter, hesitant pauses—an affective, nearly tangible exchange.

Back in the studio, we form a loose circle. I prompt reflection: “What felt unsaid, and what landed well? How did it feel to watch, to judge, to pitch?”

We talk openly.

As I reflect, I wonder: if this is undertood as formative feedback?

How can something so fleeting and vibrant be captured? How can it be translated into words that remain long after the elevator doors have closed?

Feedback doesn’t just live in spoken words or written comments.

It lives in eye contact across a studio table. In the pause before someone speaks. In the way a peer gestures or asks, “Can I take a closer look?” Feedback is often non-verbal. Spatial. Felt.

I think a lot about where feedback happens. How spaces, structures, and behaviours create the conditions for dialogue, both formal and informal. And how in these moments can I maintain alignment with learning outcomes?

What I’ve come to value is how scaffolded peer feedback creates space for students to notice each other, reflect together, and test ideas in low-stakes ways. It supports the kind of internal comparison and quiet calibration that helps build judgment more durably than top-down advice.

Feedback is powerful when it’s iterative. It doesn’t need to resolve everything at once. A comment in passing can ripple forward, especially when students are encouraged to return, reframe, and reflect.

I increasingly believe feedback is strongest when learner-led. When students have agency not just to receive it, but to shape its purpose and rhythm. Not only to improve a project, but to strengthen the learning community around them.

literacies - not just processes Effective feedback doesn’t just rely on good processes; it thrives on shared understanding and motivation to engage. One of the most valuable ideas we’ve encountered during this project, drawn from the work of Pitt and Winstone, is the call to embed feedback literacies within the day-to-day life of an institution. That means creating opportunities for staff and students to explore feedback together, engage with research, and imagine new ways of making it meaningful.

Throughout this work, we’ve encountered a range of papers, projects, and ideas that have challenged and inspired our thinking.

They’ve helped us see feedback not just as a system, but as a relationship, shaped by values, expectations, and experience.

We’ve included a short bibliography at the end of this pamphlet in case you want to explore these ideas further and develop your own approach to feedback at GSA. Here are some of the questions we kept coming back to during student conversations, staff workshops, and casual chats between ourselves. We share them not as instructions, but as provocations.

They’re starting points for reflection and conversation, too.

Developing feedback literacies isn’t just about following steps, it’s about being open, curious, and willing to rethink how feedback works and who it’s for. We know that takes motivation and care from everyone involved.

We hope this pamphlet offers a helpful starting point for those conversations and for the small shifts that can lead to lasting change.

* How would you describe formative feedback?

When have you experienced formative feedback during your studies?

Can you describe your experience of formative feedback?

How would you describe the focus of the formative feedback you receive?

How could formative feedback and assessment work better for you?

Are formative feedback and assessment colocated in your practice?

When and how do you provide formative feedback and assessment?

What tools or methods do you typically use for formative feedback?

What’s one piece of formative feedback you’ve received recently that stands out?

How do you usually use the feedback you’re given? *

References - further reading Edd Pitt & Naomi Winstone (2023) ‘Enabling and valuing feedback literacies,’ Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 48:2 Exploring compassionate feedback – a collaboration between UAL and Glasgow School of Art, UAL Education Conference 11-12 July 2022 (https://belongingthroughassessment.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2022/07/12/ exploring-compassionate-feedback-a-collaboration-between-ual-and-glasgow-school-of-art-ual-education-conference-11-12-july-2022/) John Biggs (2003) ‘Aligning Teaching for Constructing Learning,’ Higher Education Academy Susan Orr & Sue Bloxham (2012). Making judgements about students making work: Lecturers’ assessment practices in art and design. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 12(2-3), 234-253.

Sebastien Fitch (2023) ‘Art, assessment and uncertainty,’ Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education, Vol. 22, no. 2 p.263-275.

Useful links to GSA resources Code of Assessment https://gsadocuments.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Code-of-Assessment.pdf

Student Guide to Assessment + Feedback https://canvas.gsa.ac.uk/courses/2482/pages/student-guide-to-a-and-f-home-page-2

With sincere thanks to those who shared their perspectives, your voices are at the heart of this work.

This pamphlet was produced by Maisie Wills + Digger Nutter student consultant project 2025.