Praise - What not to say


As educators we have learned (from both sides of the desk) that praise can be made an effective tool for eliciting the most of students. After years of practice, many of us have honed it to a fine art: it stands as a cure for most classroom ills, from bad behavior to poor motivation. Or does it exacerbate those problems?

For years we have held the belief that our praise promotes the improved self-esteem necessary for better grades, better behavior, better study habits, better performance, better, in fact, everything. It may not.

A recent article in the New York Magazine draws our attention to the practice of praising those things over which students have no control may actually hurt them. In this article Mr. Bronson notes a recent study of fifth graders indicates some praise may be the cause of "underperformance" in students.

Carol Dweck's team of researchers from Columbia gave students nonverbal IQ tests (a simple series of puzzles that all could do well). Once the tests were completed the students were told their scores and given praise for their work. But half (randomly selected) of the students were praised for their intelligence: "You must be smart at this." The other half were praised for their effort: "You must have worked really hard."

Next, the students were presented with a second round of tests - they could choose to take a more difficult test than the first one or an easier test. The researchers told the students if they chose the harder test they would "learn a lot from it."

From the group that were praised for their effort, 90% chose to take the harder test. From the group that were praised for their intelligence, most selected the easier test.

Think about it - when you praise your students, are you praising something they can control - like their effort? Or are you praising something beyond their control?

Education World recently interviewed Professor Dweck and focused on student motivation. She speaks of an "undue emphasis on testing" and that students "believe that intelligence is a fixed trait -- that some people have it and others don't."

Education World also has an interesting curriculum article entitled "Can Adults Praise Children Too Much." A summary: "According to some psychologists and researchers, praising everything children do does not build self-esteem - eventually the praise becomes meaningless. Instead of continually praising students, teachers should substitute descriptive comments or cite specific improvements in work."

Even twenty years ago researchers were questioning the role of praise in the classroom. In 1983 William Esler reported the correlations between praise and learning gains were not always positive. Researchers pointed out that at best praise is a weak reinforcer. Not all young children are interested in pleasing the teacher, and as children grow older, interest in pleasing the teacher diminishes significantly.

As educators we certainly want to do our utmost to challenge students to do their very best. When we see students who are unmotivated, we see students who are wasting their time. To get them back on track, think about how to phrase your praise.

The Advantage Press has developed a set of Motivation Packets along the lines of appropriate praise. We believe these packets may be helpful along with your words of encouragement to those students we know could be doing better. Check our website for free samples from this program.