Have you ever received horrible advice? Being able to give effective advice is harder than most expect. Especially if that advice is explaining something negative. Throughout life, people receive and give an extensive amount of advice. Sometimes even involuntarily advise on a subject just because they did it a certain way.
Constructive criticism is a term that invites criticism in a way to enhance that person’s action or product. Which seems simple. However, people by nature are sensitive when it comes to something they’ve worked hard on. Like art for instance. If your not-so-talented child brings you a drawing they made of you that looks more like a distant cousin and they follow up asking for your “real” opinion. Sure, some may lie to preserve the fragile feelings of their child. Yet others might have a moral code that prevents them from lying. What are you meant to do then? A popular way to give someone constructive criticism commonly referred to as the compliment sandwich method suggests that you should sandwich your negative (to be improved) comment in between two positive comments to highlight the things they did well.
To find out how she teaches students to give constructive criticism, Cougar Claw interviewed one of the Kearns High School art teachers, Meghan M Allen. Being an art teacher, she must not only give critiques to her students but also teach her students how to give good constructive criticisms. When asked if she teaches her students how to give constructive criticism, she responds that she tries to, and this is because she believes that it’s a skill they will need in the future. She has two main approaches that she teaches for giving critiques and one for being on the other side. The first way she recommends for giving constructive criticism is the previously mentioned compliment sandwich method. Meghan feels that this helps prevent the “everything is terrible” mindset that comes up when receiving a critique, which is especially common in high schoolers. An alternate setup she has her students use is called the T.A.G. critique method. An acronym that stands for tell what you like, ask a question, and give advice. She thinks this helps refrain from critiques being all negative or all positive. Her best advice for receiving a critique is to “take what you need and throw the rest in the trash.” This refers to not needing to focus on all, if any, of a critique and to just take what will help you and forget the rest. Overall, she feels that everyone should be able to say, “Oops I made a mistake.” As well as not to focus primarily on the negative and zoom out a little. She thinks to give better critiques people need to gain more confidence because if you are asked to give a critique then both you and they know that “you are right and you know better.”
Generally, it’s better to look at the bigger picture. It’s always better to gain more perspectives and opinions but it’s then your decision to take it or leave it.
