Why praise doesn’t work and what you can use instead

Conventional wisdom advises that children need to be praised in order to succeed in their studies and feel good about themselves. However, extensive research has shown that praise can actually lead to a lack of motivation, poor self-esteem and frustration.

The work of preeminent psychologist and Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, in particular, has shone a light on the potentially debilitating effects of praise – a tool that countless teachers and parents take for granted.

The key to dismantling the popular belief that all praise is helpful, is firstly to recognise that it comes in two main varieties: value judgements about the child and their achievements, and positive feedback about the child’s actions. The latter can be more accurately described as encouragement – from the Old French to put in courage/heart or make stronger. The table below provides some examples to illustrate the difference:

One of the main drawbacks of praise is that it can foster an external locus of control; this means that the child can become dependent on others for validation and approval. For fear of not living up to the expectation of others, they may avoid challenges and not seek help or support when needed. Encouragement, on the other hand, can contribute to the development of an internal locus of control where the child feels that they can make things happen by themselves.

Psychologist Carol Dweck states that these two types of feedback have a significantly different impact on the child and include some of the following evidence:

• Children who were given feedback on strategies used in an activity were more likely to come up with workable solutions following a setback than those who were praised.
• Those who received feedback on their effort, reported greater enjoyment – even after failure – than students who were praised on a task.
• Children who were praised on their intelligence were far more likely to lie about a poor performance to impress their peers.
• Trait-oriented praise made learners feel good about themselves and improve performance, but only while they were succeeding – the same children exhibited greater helplessness when faced with setbacks than their peers who had received encouragement.
• Students who received praise were also less likely to challenge themselves to more difficult tasks and risk failure, and thereby kept looking smart.
• Students who received praise were also less likely to challenge themselves to more difficult tasks and risk failure, and thereby kept looking smart.

The implications of a teacher’s use of praise or encouragement reach far beyond the walls of the classroom and sow seeds in the hearts and minds of the young learner that will shape their perception of themselves and their experiences of learning. It is therefore vital that attention is paid to the language used when giving positive feedback and remember that the impact of our words is more important than the intention behind them. It may be tempting to give a child an ego boost, but bear in mind that the positive effects of praise are fleeting; deed-based encouragement will nurture proactivity, persistence and resilience that will be far more helpful in the long-term.

What if a child effortlessly succeeds in an activity and we cannot think of any words of encouragement? Dweck has a humbling solution: “Apologize to the student for wasting his or her time with something that was not challenging enough to learn anything from.”

REFLECTION

When you find yourself praising your young learners, ask yourself the following:

• Do my comments invite approval-seeking behaviour?
• Am I encouraging the child to think for themselves?
• Would I say this to a friend?