Casting my mind back to my early days as a newly qualified teacher, I recall how my approach to praise was driven largely by intuition and what I considered common sense.
I believed that showering students with positive affirmations would undoubtedly boost their confidence and motivation. Armed with a cheerful disposition and a generous supply of “Great work!”, I set out to create a positive and encouraging learning environment.
However, as my journey into engagement with research evidence began, I quickly realised that my well-intentioned approach might not have been as effective as I had initially thought.
Research into praise confirms that it has the potential to either enhance or undermine children’s intrinsic motivation, depending on how it is delivered. But this is perhaps more complex than it can initially seem.
We know that process praise, which focuses on effort, mastery, strategies, and specific aspects of performance, tends to be more beneficial than generic person praise, which focuses on student ability or traits.
Likewise, it is understood that praise is most effective when it promotes autonomy, builds competence, avoids social comparison, and conveys clear standards and expectations.
However, praise can be detrimental if it is perceived as insincere, implies impossibly high standards, or creates a “praise addiction” where children engage in behaviours solely to elicit praise.
The same research also confirms that the effect of praise depends not just on the content but also on the context, the relationship with the teacher or leader, the characteristics and interpretations of the student, and the broader cultural context.
The paradox of praise
Other studies have found that, despite good intentions, giving encouraging praise to low-attaining students may reinforce low expectations from the teacher. Through inflated praise, teachers may inadvertently reinforce negative stereotypes about students’ intellectual abilities, and inflated praise can also harm the confidence of students with low self-esteem. To prevent this, teachers may need to phrase their praise modestly and focus on the principles of more effective praise, rather than on effort.
Relationships with students have been found to be a crucially important foundation for effective praise, and the ‘Establish-Maintain-Restore’ (EMR) framework can help teachers intentionally build positive relationships with students. Within the EMR framework, the “maintain” phase involves a 5-to-1 ratio of positive to negative interactions, which evidence suggests improves students’ classroom engagement. However, praise appears to be less impactful without a solid foundation, so it is important to establish trusting relationships to then maximise the impact of praise.
To harness the power of praise effectively, teachers should focus on giving it for the learning process, mastery praise and the specific use of strategies being used to build competence. For example, instead of saying “You’re so smart!” (person praise), teachers could say “Great use of X strategy to solve that problem!” (process praise). Additionally, praise should be sincere, not overused and social comparisons should largely be avoided.
Here are some practical examples of praise that is likely to be effective:
- Process praise: “Great work at applying X strategy to solve that equation!”
- Mastery-oriented praise: “You’re really mastering division, you’re now tackling more complex problems with confidence”
- Autonomy-supportive praise: “I can see you put a lot of thought into choosing that example, it shows you really care about this piece of work.”
- Specific, descriptive praise: “Your use of data and examples to support your arguments made your writing more persuasive and engaging.”
Less effective praise might include:
- Person praise: “You’re so gifted at writing!”
- Generic praise: “Great job, you’re a natural.”
- Social-comparison praise: “Wow, you got the highest score in the class!”
- Inflated praise: “That was the best presentation I’ve ever seen!”
While praise can be a powerful tool for promoting positive behaviour and motivation, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The research demonstrates that the effectiveness of praise depends on various factors, including the content, context, and delivery.
By understanding the nuances of effective praise practices, such as using process praise and avoiding inflated praise, and intentionally building positive relationships with students through frameworks like EMR, teachers can harness the power of praise - while avoiding potential pitfalls.
Mark Leswell is research lead for school improvement at Swale Academies Trust
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