Friday, April 8, 2016

Praise and the Pendulum

As educators, we are all too familiar with the pendulum swing – not what happens in a clock, but what happens in our schools as the winds of change blow one direction and then back again. Is it whole language or phonics? Open classrooms or graded? Creativity or scripted lessons?

The role of praise has also been victim of the pendulum swing. My sense is that, with this issue like most others, best practice lies somewhere in the middle. Aristotle, I think, had the right idea when he suggested moderation in all things.

The positive parenting movement of the late 80’s that was supposed to boost self-esteem has given way to warnings about the evils of praise. And those warnings have extended beyond parenting to other interactions, like coaching. We certainly don’t want to create “praise junkies,” but neither do we want to withhold warranted adulation. We don’t want to reduce internal motivation by offering an external motivator. We don’t want our praise to feel manipulative, but neither do we want to pass up the chance to reinforce good things that are happening. It’s a balancing act.

Research suggests that not all praise is useful and not everyone reacts positively to praise. Some who are perfectionists or overly self-critical may not appreciate being praised when they don’t feel their performance was up to snuff.* But many will respond gratefully when you notice and acknowledge their effective efforts. So, as with all coaching decisions, your judgment is necessary to determine whether praise will be well-received.

Do you remember doing pendulum problems during high-school physics class? The exercise was to consider how much the arc of the swing was reduced on each repetition and how many swings it would take before equilibrium was reached and the pendulum came to rest. Hopefully it can be that way with praise, too. By neither avoiding nor overusing praise, we can find that happy place where over-correction isn’t necessary and appropriate praise is used as an effective coaching tool.


* Weissbourd, R. (2009). The parents we mean to be: How well intentioned adults undermine children’s moral and emotional development. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


This week, you might want to take a look at:

Interesting thoughts about “Writing Your Way to Happiness.” So many implications for coaches, teachers, student, and human beings in general!



How classroom jobs build community:



Quotes about Revision:



Tips to consider about divided attention, technology, and note-taking:



Hard is okay: More research about growth-mindset and STEM



That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!



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