Praise in the Classroom.
Most educators agree that children need to be in
supportive, friendly environments. But recent research indicates
that some teacher attempts to create such environments by using
praise may actually be counterproductive.
The purpose of this digest is to give teachers
new insights into ways to make their statements of praise more
effective and consistent with the goals most early childhood
educators have for children, namely, to foster self-esteem,
autonomy, self-reliance, achievement, and motivation for
learning. Most teachers praise students in order to enhance
progress toward these goals. However, current research poses the
possibility that some common uses of praise may actually have
negative effects in some or all of these areas.
PRAISE: EFFECTS ON SELF-ESTEEM AND AUTONOMY
Some praise statements may have the potential to lower
students' confidence in themselves. In a study of second
graders in science classrooms, Rowe (1974) found that praise
lowered students' confidence in their answers and reduced
the number of verbal responses they offered. The students
exhibited many characteristics indicative of lower
self-esteem, such as responding in doubtful tones and
showing lack of persistence or desire to keep trying. In
addition, students frequently tried to "read" or check the
teacher's eyes for signs of approval or disapproval.
In a series of six studies of subjects ranging
in age from third grade to adult, Meyer (1979) found that under
some conditions, praise led recipients to have low expectations
of success at difficult tasks, which in turn decreased the
persistence and performance intensity at the task. It seems that
certain kinds of praise may set up even the most capable
students for failure. No student can always be "good" or "nice"
or "smart." In order to avoid negative evaluations, students may
tend not to take chances and attempt difficult tasks.
PRAISE AS A MOTIVATOR
Many teachers attempt to use praise as a form of positive
reinforcement in order to motivate students to achieve and
behave in positive ways. However, as Brophy (1981) points
out, trying to use praise as a systematic reinforcer in a
classroom setting is impractical. Even if teachers were able
to praise frequently and systematically, say once every 5
minutes, the average student would still be praised less
than once every 2 hours. Brophy's research disclosed the
reality that much teacher praise is not deliberate
reinforcement, but rather, is elicited by students--the
students actually condition the teacher to praise them.
Even if teachers could praise students
systematically, there is still some indication that such praise
would not be effective. Researchers point 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. Esler
(1983) reports that correlations between teachers' rates of
praise and students' learning gains are not always positive, and
even when correlations are positive, they are usually too low to
be considered significant.
Some researchers (Martin, 1977; Stringer and
Hurt, 1981) have found that praise can actually lessen
self-motivation and cause children to become dependent on
rewards. Green and Lepper (1974) found that once teachers began
praising preschool children for doing something they were
already motivated to do, the children became less motivated to
do the activity.
Research demonstrates that various forms of
praise can have different kinds of effects on different kinds of
students. Students from different socioeconomic classes, ability
levels, and genders may not respond in the same way to praise.
The use of praise is further complicated by the fact that it may
have differential effects depending on the type of achievement
being measured. For example, praise may be useful in motivating
students to learn by rote, but it may discourage problem
solving.
PRAISE AS A CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TOOL
Teachers of young children are especially likely to try to
use praise as a way to manage individuals or groups of
children. A statement such as "I like the way Johnny is
sitting," is often aimed not only at Johnny's behavior but
also at nudging children in the group to conform. Teachers
of older students would never get away with such control
techniques. Even young children who may not be able to
articulate their frustration with such blatant manipulation
may show their resentment by defiantly refusing to conform
or by imitating the "misbehaving" child.
Kounin (1970) did extensive observations in
kindergarten classrooms in order to gain insight into effective
management practices. He found that smoothness and maintenance
of the momentum of classroom instruction and activities were the
most powerful variables in controlling deviant behavior and
maintaining student attention. Praise did not contribute to
effective classroom management.
PRAISE VERSUS ENCOURAGEMENT
Research does indicate that there are effective ways to
praise students. The terms "effective praise" and
"encouragement" are often used by researchers and other
professionals to describe the same approach. In this paper,
we will refer to both as "encouragement."
To praise is "to commend the worth of or to
express approval or admiration" (Brophy, 1981, p.5). Dreikurs
and others (1982) say that praise is usually given to a child
when a task or deed is completed or is well done. Encouragement,
on the other hand, refers to a positive acknowledgment response
that focuses on student efforts or specific attributes of work
completed. Unlike praise, encouragement does not place judgment
on student work or give information regarding its value or
implications of student status. Statements such as "You draw
beautifully, Marc," or "Terrific job, Stephanie," are examples
of praise. They are nonspecific, place a judgment on the
student, and give some indication of the student's status in the
group.
Encouragement, on the other hand:
*Offers specific feedback rather than general
comments. For example,
instead of saying, "Terrific job," teachers can
comment on specific
behaviors that they wish to acknowledge.
*Is teacher-initiated and private. Privacy
increases the potential for
an honest exchange of ideas and an opportunity
for the student to talk
about his or her work.
*Focuses on improvement and efforts rather than
evaluation of a finished
product.
*Uses sincere, direct comments delivered with a
natural voice.
*Does not set students up for failure. Labels
such as "nice" or
"terrific" set students up for failure because
they cannot always be
"nice" or "terrific".
*Helps students develop an appreciation of their
behaviors and
achievements.
*Avoids competition or comparisons with others.
*Works toward self-satisfaction from a task or
product.
Children have an intrinsic desire to learn.
Ineffective praise can stifle students' natural curiosity and
desire to learn by focusing their attention on extrinsic rewards
rather than the intrinsic rewards that come from the task itself
(Brophy, 1981). This kind of praise replaces a desire to learn
with blind conformity, a mechanical work style, or even open
defiance. On the other hand, teachers who encourage students
create an environment in which students do not have to fear
continuous evaluation, where they can make mistakes and learn
from them, and where they do not always need to strive to meet
someone else's standard of excellence. Most students thrive in
encouraging environments where they receive specific feedback
and have the opportunity to evaluate their own behavior and
work. Encouragement fosters autonomy, positive self-esteem, a
willingness to explore, and acceptance of self and others.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Brophy, J.E. "Teacher Praise: A Functional Analysis." REVIEW
OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 51(1) (1981): 5-32.
Dreikurs, R., Greenwald, B., and Pepper, F.
MAINTAINING SANITY IN THE CLASSROOM: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
Esler, W.K. A REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON TEACHING.
Paper presented at the Convention of the Association of Teacher
Educators, Orlando, Florida, 1983.
Green, D., and Lepper, M.R. "How to Turn Play
Into Work." PSYCHOLOGY TODAY 8(4) (1974): 49-54.
Kounin, J. DISCIPLINE AND GROUP MANAGEMENT IN
CLASSROOMS. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
Martin, D.L. "Your Praise Can Smother Learning."
LEARNING 5(6) (1977): 43-51.
Meyer, W. "Informational Value of Evaluative
Behavior: Influences of Social Reinforcement on Achievement."
JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 71(2) (1979): 259-268.
Rowe, M.B. "Relation of Wait-Time and Rewards to
the Development of Language, Logic and Fate Control: Part
II--Rewards." JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING 11(4)
(1974): 291-308.
Stringer, B.R., and Hurt, H.T. TO PRAISE OR NOT
TO PRAISE: FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE UTILIZING PRAISE AS A
REINFORCING DEVICE IN THE CLASSROOM COMMUNICATION PROCESS. Paper
presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Speech
Communications Association, Austin, Texas, 1981.
