The Thought Occurs

Monday, 29 September 2025

CAMPAIGN TO CANCEL “FEEDBACK”

Event Title: “Unlearning Feedback: Embracing the Fluidity of Becoming”

Location: The Reflection Pond, just outside the Department of Perpetual Flux
Organised by:

  • The Collective for Feedback Liberation

  • Students for Non-Linear Growth

  • The Department of Vulnerability Studies
    Mascot: A chameleon named “Maybe”


CAMPAIGN MANTRA:

“Feedback fractures. Becoming flows.”


OPENING REMARKS: LUX (they/them)

PhD candidate in Non-Judgmental Ontologies

Feedback is a microaggression.
It interrupts the sacred unfolding of selfhood.
It demands finality where there is none.
It weaponises language to halt metamorphosis.

We propose a radical shift: from evaluative interruption to mutual witnessing.
Feedback says, “You are not yet enough.”
Mutual witnessing says, “I see you—ever-changing, ever-becoming.”


SLIDE: THE PROBLEM WITH FEEDBACK

Traditional FeedbackMutual Witnessing Alternative
Critique of performancePresence with vulnerability
Judgment of outputSharing of experiential resonance
Hierarchical assessorEqual co-traveller in process
Fix-it mentalityHonouring ambiguity and ongoing growth
Cause of anxiety and self-doubtSource of compassionate co-reflection


WORKSHOP: “HOW TO WITNESS WITHOUT INTERRUPTING”

  • Practice listening with porous boundaries

  • Respond with phrases like:

    • “I notice your energy shifting.”

    • “Your process ripples in unexpected ways.”

    • “I honour the space your becoming inhabits.”

  • Avoid all imperatives, judgments, or solutions

  • Embrace silence as sacred space


TESTIMONIALS:

ASHLEIGH (she/her):

Receiving feedback felt like a slap; mutual witnessing feels like a hug. I no longer fear my own growth.

JORDAN (he/they):

I used to wait for feedback like a verdict. Now I share my process like a campfire story.


PETITION DEMANDS:

  1. Immediate removal of the word “feedback” from all course documents and meetings.

  2. Replacement of all “feedback sessions” with “Mutual Witnessing Circles”.

  3. Training for faculty and students on embodied witnessing practices.

  4. Establishment of a No-Feedback Zone in all learning spaces where only becoming is honoured.

  5. Creation of a Witnessing Ritual to replace report cards, involving the sharing of non-verbal resonances and dance.


CLOSING CEREMONY: THE WITNESSING WEB

Participants form a circle and toss a skein of yarn between one another, each sharing a moment of growth or change without interruption. The yarn web represents interconnected becoming, fragile but strong.


UNIVERSITY RESPONSE:

In recognition of the campaign, the university will pilot “Witnessing First” protocols in select departments. The annual “Feedback Week” will be renamed “Celebration of Continuous Becoming.”

No comments:

Post a Comment