Using participatory research strategies we critically reflect on how, in a formal course for academic developers, feedback supports the induction of participants into the field. We investigated how feedback processes contribute to participants' explorations of new ways of knowing, being, and acting as academic developers in their contexts. The process of reflecting on contested and diverse approaches to feedback has contributed significantly to theorising our practices as facilitators on the course. We argue that the kind of feedback provided by the tutors has the potential to contribute to strengthening emerging voices and practices of academic developers in the global South.