It is common to receive feedback with which one does not agree with. Most a times, the feedback contradicts our beliefs, experience, or even the ideologies that characterize our thought processes. I have had such experiences in which I have been given feedback that I did not agree with and I found it difficult to accept such feedback. This paper seeks to expound on one of such experiences. In other terms, this is an explanation of how things went about and why I felt that I did not agree with the feedback. It is a detailed explanation of a time when I was in my early years in high school in which our creative arts teacher argued that criticism, at times, might be helpful and it should be encouraged.
It was during our second lesson before we went for lunch that the creative arts teacher walked into class and asked students to bring forth the different works they had worked on. At the time, the assignment required that all students start working on different art pieces that were to be inspired by the great names in the different fields of art. Thus, most of the works by the students were inspired by the likes of Leonardo da Vince and Michelangelo. However, there was one particular student who argued that his works were inspired by his father. He explained to the class that his father was a painter although he was not widely known. It was at this point that the other students started making fun of his painting and his father. I could tell from the expression in his face that he did not like the forms of jibes that were being directed to him. The students went along, and the teacher seemed to encourage the “insults” in the name of criticism. Students went on for 15 minutes at which point the student broke down into tears and ran out of class.
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When I saw this, I stood up and asked the teacher to tell the other students to calm down. In response, the teacher explained to me that creative arts required one to be ready to take different forms of criticism. Her perspective was that criticism should; be encouraged as it was helpful in building up the confidence of an artist. Additionally, she explained that criticism opened up an artist to the diverse preferences of the audience and that an artist should be better-positioned to work on pieces that would appeal to most of the audience. I completely agreed with the logic of her argument. My response was that as much as criticism was arguably necessary, it was difficult for the public to differentiate between positive criticism and insult. In most cases, members of the public and the audience used the platform that criticism offers to frustrate the artist. As a result, I held the opinion that criticism should not be tolerated. The effect that it had on my fellow classmate was enough to make me cement my belief on the negative implication of criticism.
In addition to the above, people react differently to criticism, and in most cases, it has turned out to have a negative impact on those affected. As much as there are those that have benefitted from criticism (going by teacher’s perspective), most of the times it is not helpful. As a result, the dynamics that encompass criticism might have the best intention at heart, but people manipulate its objectives and use them as a tool to break the morale and the self-esteem of others. For these reasons, I did not agree with the teacher, and I also did not believe his argument that criticism is beneficial in creative arts to hold water.
