Mitigating emotional barriers to feedback encounters and dialogue (in law schools)

This article develops a tripartite typology categorising how negative emotions act as barriers to feedback encounters and dialogue. It draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with students and staff on a non-embedded writing support initiative implemented in the Law Department at the University of Manchester. Our findings reveal negative emotions inhibit feedback dialogue in three ways: accessing written feedback; accessing feedback dialogue; and the quality of feedback dialogue. We further suggest how non-embedded writing support can mitigate these emotional barriers, highlighting the need for educators to reflect on the emotional needs of their students in feedback processes.