Verbal Praise Versus External Rewards

Kohn’s first reason is that praise is used to manipulate the children. Kohn says that praise is “sugar-coated control” (Kohn, 110, 2001) adults use to pressure their child into good behavior. Kohn’s second reason is that praising children creates “praise junkies” (Kohn, 111, 2001). He believes that the child will no longer perform an activity for the proper reasons, instead of doing a difficult task to be able to say that they could their motives altered to only desire the

Po Bronson, the author of the article, How Not To Talk To Your Kids, expresses the fact that praising your kids does not benefit their school or life successes. This claim is backed up with experiments and research done by psychologists on children to see how the praise impacts them. For example, psychologist Carol Dweck and her team conducted an experiment in which fifth graders were given a nonverbal IQ test. After one is completed, they were given a line of praise. These lines of praises were either acknowledging their intelligence (“You must be smart at this”) or their effort (You must have worked really hard). Results have shown that those praised for effort improved 30%, and those praised for intelligence improved 20%- taking into account

* Symbolic rewards-giving something that represents praise for behaviour or other achievements, such as stickers or certificates.’ (Lindon. J 2009, guiding the behaviour of children and young people: Hodder Education. (pg. 189))

Following the introduction of the whole school behaviour policy, it was also made compulsory for schools to include a system of rewards and sanctions (Elton, 1989, Steer, 2005; DFE, 2014; Payne, 2015). Within school X it was found that this system was based on the behaviourist principles of Skinners (1974) theory. The use of rewards and sanctions in school X consisted of positively reinforcing desirable behaviours and correcting negative behaviour through sanctions. The behavioural theory underlines that by reinforcing a particular behaviour, children will repeat it as they begin to associate rewards with a particular behaviour (Skinner, 1974; Morgan, 2009; Rogers, 2011a). For example it was observed that when a child was positively praised for helping others, the teacher would reward the child by awarding a dojo. A dojo is used as a form of praise which amounts to a score at the end of the week based on how many dojos a child receives. This will then feed on to the merit card and sticker system enabling children to be rewarded by prizes. Consequently children were able to make associations between the desired behaviour and its outcome. This is therefore identified as a form of extrinsic motivation (Roffey and O’ Reirdan, 2001; Payne, 2015).

A child decides to join a tee-ball team. During the season, he sits on the ground and picks grass in the outfield. At the end of the season, this child gets an award: best flower picker! Some may say that this child just needed some self-esteem to help him get along. In reality, this child got a reward for doing nothing, even for not doing what he was supposed to. When children, such as this one, receive pointless awards, they assume all rewards come with no effort put in, they expect everything in life to come easily, and they don’t learn how to work diligently to earn rewards.

Reinforcement is an essential part in identifying and encouraging a certain behavior. In the most classic definition, positive reinforcement is a method of identifying to children which behaviors are acceptable and appropriate and which are not (Sigler, E. & Aamidor, S, 2005). Reinforcement is often given as praise for doing a certain task. As educators, saying “great job” or a simple word like “fantastic” are expressed towards students as praise. However, when a student is struggling and praise is given such as “you are doing so well”, the negative aspects of praise present themselves. The child is aware of the empty praise

These types of rewards are intended to increase the motivation in a child and by recognising their success will lead to their good behaviour and a positive work ethic. However, where there is praise there must also be sanctions, this will teach children that unacceptable behaviour will not be accepted. Behaviour that may include; bullying, disrespect to

For example, if I knew that I was going to receive a medal for just showing up to practice, why would I do anything more than that? This carries up to the workplace when children grow up; they now have the impression that all they have to do is show up and they will be rewarded or in this case paid. Kenneth Barish, a clinical associate professor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College, will argue that there is no harm in adults encouraging participation with a trophy and has found no evidence the practice leads to entitlement among kids. Although Barish has not seen a trend in the practice, why punish the children who are working hard by handing out trophies to everyone? This trophy now has no value to those who do deserve

In the article “Losing is Good for You”, Ashely Merryman claims that children should not be given awards for something not worth an award such as participation. She states that our youth should not be put under the illusion that winning is as easy as one, two, three. Based on her information, receiving an achievement should be earned instead of given. She stresses the fact that constant praise and awards for possible effortless doings will result in a mindset that believes that putting effort into something will not matter in the end because of the expected praise. With that being said, she believes that constant awarding will lead to underachievement and poor problem-solving skills.

Children pay attention to winning and earning a trophy for doing good. Earning a trophy is a special moment for kids because they get to feel the feeling of they've accomplished something. Participation trophies don’t benefit children as much as learning what it's like to lose.

The notion of participation awards in childhood activities have raised a spark debate; while awarding each child with a uniform trophy supports equality, what’s there to say about the detrimental effect on motivation if everyone is labeled a winner? The expectation of an award or certificate, in conclusion to any activity, is viewed as a guarantee; often, they serve as the sole motivation point for those uninterested in the activity itself as they’re aware they’ll be a winner regardless. This inflated sense of self-worth brought upon by miniscule awards, most especially participation, leaves children unprepared for adult life as a functioning member of society. While generous in thought, participation awards support a distorted view of reality

Have you ever wondered how praise can be bad? If how you praising your student and/ or child is affecting them in a good or bad way? I "The Perils and Promises of Praise" Carol S. Dweck made a lot of points in her research. Stuff that you would never think about. Things that you would not think that it had a bad affect on them. If you praise intelligence it can lead students to believe that they were born smart. Students with a fixed mindset care most about if the will be judged: smart or not smart(7). They also reject opportunities to learn if they make a mistake(7). Students with a growth mindset care about learning(8). They will correct their mistakes(8). They will find new learning styles if they do not understand the topic or subject they

1. I agree process praise encourage and motivate children to work hard learn, explore and have a healthy outlook on their abilities and praise that is sincere and conveys realistic expectations can promote a child's self-motivation. 2. I read The Flip Side of praise and I disagree with the article saying that praise is a way to manipulate children to comply with adult wishes. 3. I will practice process praise because I read in the article that process praise shown to encourage children to develop a flexible mindset comfront their weaknesses and take on challenges.

Every year people complain that kids get awards they didn’t earn simply for participating in an event. This is damaging to their future perspective on rewards, which are earned through effort rather than just showing up and giving minimal effort. Giving kids rewards for the effort they exhibit while participating in events can be beneficial, but if you constantly reward children they’ll receive the wrong message. That no matter the amount of effort or what the outcome is you’ll be given a reward. As parents you are not doing the best you can for your kids if you allow this to happen. You are not setting them up for success if you always give them a trophy, especially when they give minimal effort or lose.

When instilled in the young, pride is a building block of a healthy self-esteem. This is important and necessary to promote a positive self-worth. A child needs to hear that he or she has done something well. Praise will reinforce positive characteristics and does not focus on limitations as it builds pride. He or she should be proud of what they have worked for. Winning a competition is not as important as doing one’s best. When someone does their best they try and strive to do even better just winning sets limits. Without a healthy self-worth, the child feels inferior and shame. When a child feels proud of their accomplishments, they feel good about themself. This will encourage the child to continue to perform at his best. Praise for accomplishments fosters pride. Praise can come from a parent, friend, teacher, or even one self. It is also important to teach the child to