Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the lifeworld of educational feedback in the lived experience of elementary education student teachers at Farhangian University and to explain its consequences on their motivation and learning.
Method: The research was conducted with a qualitative approach and within the framework of descriptive phenomenology. The participants included 34 student teachers in the fifth semester of elementary education at Farhangian University of Khuzestan Province in the first semester of the academic year 2025-26, who were selected purposively. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was conducted based on Claise's seven-step method. To increase validity and reliability, participant review, independent coding, and expert judgment were used.
Results: The findings led to the identification of a set of main themes that represented the pre-service teachers' educational feedback lifeworld. Positive feedback, including verbal encouragement, constructive criticism, respect, and attention to individual differences, increased intrinsic motivation, active participation, deep learning, and strengthened professional identity. In contrast, negative or ineffective feedback, such as indifference, unconstructive criticism, grade-based, and a focus on formal aspects, resulted in consequences such as reduced motivation, anxiety, superficial learning, and a weakening of the teacher's self-concept. Also, the role of the teacher, the classroom setting, and the emotional characteristics of the feedback played a decisive role in how student teachers received and responded.
Conclusions: The results showed that educational feedback is an integral part of the pre-service teachers' learning lifeworld, which creates broad motivational, learning, identity, and educational consequences.