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Edutopia
The Right Kind of Praise Can Spur Student Growth
Research shows that when adults calibrate their praise by following a
few simple rules, students take more academic risks and are inspired to
continue learning.
By Meghan Laslocky
September 25, 2020
The self-esteem movement of the 1970s drilled into adults the notion
that positive feedback like “Great job” and “You're so smart” was
crucial if you wanted children to grow up to be confident, successful
adults, writes Paul L. Underwood for The New York Times.
But haphazard, inflated praise can have unintended consequences. When
adults praise the outcome (“It’s beautiful!”) or the inherent qualities
of the person (“You’re so amazing!”), it can set an impossibly high bar
and backfire, reducing a child’s motivation to take on tough challenges
in the future that lead to growth. Praise that’s overly effusive
meanwhile, like “That’s the best penmanship ever!”, can make kids too
reliant on extravagant feedback to motivate them. According to research
by author and Stanford Graduate School of Education professor of
psychology Carol S. Dweck, praise that falls into these categories can
feel controlling, produce anxiety about potential failure, and erode
the pleasure children take in an activity: “[Dweck’s] research showed
that children felt pressured to live up to their parents’ praise, and
this in turn could lead to panic and anxiety,” Underwood writes. “Even
kids who didn’t experience anxiety became risk-averse, developing what
Dr. Dweck later termed a ‘fixed mind-set.’”
When adults deliver praise that’s carefully calibrated to be
meaningful, measured, and specific—and avoids character or talent
assessment—the research shows that kids respond by focusing on the
pleasure they take in the activity. And when it’s delivered in a way
that inspires curiosity and exploration, praise inspires children: it
arms them with confidence to continue to push boundaries in their
learning.
Understanding how to calibrate praise is an important tool for engaging
and motivating students. When used successfully, praise can not only
improve kids’ attitudes toward learning by building confidence and
engagement, but also help offset behavior challenges.
PRAISE THE PROCESS
In a 1998 study, Dweck found that children who were praised for working
hard were more motivated to take on challenging problems, became more
confident in their abilities, and enjoyed solving problems more than
children who were praised for being smart. When kids receive praise
that’s focused on their efforts, it boosts their sense of agency. When
you say: “Wow, it looks like you really enjoyed your coloring!” for
example, you’re highlighting the student’s personal reasons for
engaging in an activity.
In contrast, research by Jennifer Henderlong Corpus, a professor of
psychology at Reed College, and Kayla A. Good, a Ph.D candidate at
Stanford, shows that when praise is rooted in the assessment of innate
traits, like intelligence, rather than on choice—choosing to be
persistent, for instance—kids feel frustrated and undermined.
Praising effort, however, requires keeping tabs on the path the child
takes with a project. “To provide meaningful process praise, you have
to pay attention to the process itself,” writes Underwood. It’s not
necessary to praise mid-stream; it’s OK to wait until a child has
finished a task. Try engaging students by asking about their process
with questions like: “Tell me how you arrived at that word choice,” or
“You took an interesting path to arrive at that answer. What was it?”
Your curiosity about a student’s process will “encourage the child to
ask him or herself those same questions, sparking curiosity and
exploration,” Underwood notes, which in turn allows kids to “evaluate
themselves, rather than have an external evaluation.”
BE MEASURED IN YOUR PRAISE
When adults overpraise, kids can become overly focused on gaining
approval, something Corpus and Good call “praise addiction”—a
compulsion to perform merely to gain approval. At the same time,
students have powerful radar when it comes to fake praise, and when
they detect it, it undermines credibility and trust in the classroom.
Moreover, differentiating praise is important and depending on the
student, some forms of praise work better than others: research shows
that young students appreciate public praise, while adolescents prefer
quiet or even private approval, and praise paired with rewards—a
handwritten note from you, for example, or a special solo trip to the
library to choose a book can be a strong reinforcer of positive
behavior.
AVOID COMPARING STUDENTS OR STUDENT WORK
When adults create a sense of rivalry by casually comparing classmates’
work, for example, it can be similarly counterproductive. Corpus and
Good’s research indicates that among young children, comparison doesn’t
serve as a motivator. “Praising children for normative superiority may
send the message that personal competence is measured by outperforming
peers, rather than skill development,” noted a 2005 study co-authored
by Corpus. “This message is harmful when children are in situations
that lead them to doubt their ability.”
PRACTICE DESCRIPTIVE PRAISE
Praise, notes Underwood, is highly effective when it’s delivered as
“descriptive feedback,” a concept introduced by authors Adele Farber
and Elaine Mazlish in their seminal 1980 book, How to Talk So Kids Will
Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. In the classroom, you might say:
“I noticed that you colored the sun blue,” or “I saw that you included
a quote from Martin Luther King.” The goal is to invite a conversation
with the student, encourage them to reflect on their own process, find
joy in it, and take bigger creative risks that deepen learning.
BREAKING IT DOWN
It can sound like a minefield, but you can boil the guidance on praise
down into a few key rules: Try to be measured and intentional in your
praise-giving. Avoid extravagant praise and superlatives (“That’s
amazing/incredible” or “That’s the best work I’ve seen” or “You’re just
so smart”) for more moderate, process-oriented, descriptive praise
(“Wow, you made good progress there” or “I like what you did by
including that quote” or “This is a real improvement from your first
draft”). The goal here is not to stop encouraging; it’s to encourage in
a way that leaves plenty of room for future growth and promotes
productive academic risk-taking.
When praise is administered strategically and consistently, writes
educator Todd Finley, all the research points to it being “the most
effective way for words to motivate students.” So as you adapt your
approach to giving students praise, you might consider keeping yourself
on track by creating a checklist: before each class, set a benchmark
for the number of students you want to praise, list what you want to
reinforce—effort, accuracy, fluency, or goal-setting, for example—and
maybe even create a chart for yourself to track the students you’ve
praised so you’re sure to spread praise out evenly.
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