Impact of Teachers' Responses to Negative Feedback on Student Learning in Delta State Public Secondary Schools

Education serves as a critical vehicle for transferring knowledge, instilling human values, and fostering both personal and professional development. Central to effective teaching and learning is feedback, which provides teachers with insight into students’ understanding and informs instructional decisions. Feedback can be positive or negative, and its nature significantly influences classroom dynamics. While positive feedback fosters supportive teacher-student relationships, negative feedback—such as complaints about unclear instructions, inappropriate task difficulty, or disengaging lessons—can affect teachers’ attitudes, potentially leading to dismissive, defensive, or hostile responses. Such reactions may undermine students’ academic engagement, self-perceptions, and overall learning outcomes. Moreover, repeated negative feedback can demotivate teachers, diminish their confidence, and reduce teaching effectiveness. This study explores how teachers’ attitudes toward students’ negative feedback impact the teaching and learning process in public secondary schools in Delta State, Nigeria. Understanding these dynamics is essential for enhancing teacher responsiveness, promoting positive classroom interactions, and ultimately improving students’ educational experiences.