The half of the Module “Evaluation in youth work” already passed. During that time we already talked a lot about concept of evaluation, its aims and objectives, evaluation models, actors, types and timing of evaluation, planning and preparing for evaluation, learned different evaluation methods and focused on importance of reflection.

In this part we will pay our attention to feedback and its importance in youth work and non-formal education.

All the time feedback lets us know what we are doing well and how we can improve. We’ve been receiving feedback since we were children, it’s how we learnt to behave.

We give and receive feedback all of the time, we might complain after waiting too long in a shop, might comment on how untidy your friend leaves the kitchen after using it or we might tell one of our team members that they aren’t completing all of their tasks on time.

There is much to be gained in asking for feedback from others Feedback is important as it helps us develop and improve our skills, it doesn’t matter it is positive (good) or negative (bad). It’s important that we give and ask for both kinds of feedback, only knowing what we are good at doesn’t help us develop our strengths and only being told we are bad at things isn’t helpful either.

Feedback has a huge importance in the sphere of youth work too. It is important part of complex process of evaluation and is considered as an essential part of effective evaluation. There is much to be gained in asking for feedback from others. You can get feedback or external input from many different kinds of people. More experienced colleagues or superiors and colleagues you trust are a natural choice. However, it is also important and useful to get insight from the young people you work with and for.

After passing this part of the Module titled “Feedback” you will find out what is feedback, how to give feedback, how to receive it and how to use gained information for improving of your projects and for efficient youth work.

So, let’s make this step.