Are We Turning Our Students into Praise Junkies? Really?
On the blogosphere these days you can read various opinions, along with research, about how to use praise, or not, in teaching. Some are saying that, as depicted in the film “Whiplash” (which strikes me as a horror film to be seen if only to learn what NOT to do), the popular praise, “good job,” is harmful to our students. One blogger claims these words are actually discouraging and will make students into “praise junkies.” Another says we should take pains to be precise and specific in correcting and praising their playing and that telling our students “good job” is deleterious to their learning experience
Does the problem, however, lie in the praise itself or in how and why we use it?
Violinist and pedagogue Simon Fischer, commenting in “The Strad (http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests/could-do-better/), suggests that some teachers use praise to cover up the fact that they aren’t doing their real job: solving problems. Evidently, says Fischer, these teachers figure that if you encourage a child’s self-esteem enough, the problems will solve themselves. Their assumption is, of course, wrong. I have seen many cases where the teacher is a wonderful, caring person who is also nurturing, kind, compassionate and encouraging, but whose students can’t play at all. The problem here ISN”T the praise – it’s the lack of teaching skills. When a teacher can’t solve her students’ problems and resorts to covering her tracks with fulsome praise, of course her students get discouraged – they can’t play. And of course her students become praise junkies – because praise is all they are getting from her. But we should think the praise itself is to blame?
There are teachers who don’t really care if their students play well or not. They may come from the old “If you have talent you’ll figure it out on your own” school of thought. They seem unaware that they should be racking their brains to help their students solve the myriad problems attached to learning to play a musical instrument. Instead, they figure that by just encouraging their students and telling them how talented they are, the problems will resolve themselves. When these students become discouraged, is the praise itself to blame?
How about teachers who think children should not be pushed, that studying music should be a very pleasant little game, and so give lots of encouraging words with little or no teaching, while not exacting anything from their students? When these students fail to learn, is the praise itself to blame?
Through the years I have seen positive reinforcement at its worst, coming from parents who praise everything the child does, is, sees, thinks, etc. This is bad enough, but the real problem is their blatant insincerity. A child (and any minimally sensitive adult) instinctively knows the difference between truth and flattery. A teacher who uses praise as a form of manipulation will surely not get the results she wants. If a teacher is not sincere with her students, they will lose respect for her and will not pay much heed to her or to what she says. Result? No progress. And we should think the praise itself is to blame?
As for turning our students into praise junkies: aren’t all performing musicians praise junkies to some extent? Of course we play music for our own fulfillment and satisfaction but doesn’t part of that satisfaction come from the totally non-specific praise we get when our audiences applaud our performances and our fans come backstage to express their appreciation of our efforts? If we are recording artists, do we not take high sales figures to mean that we did a “good job?” Perhaps we ought to prohibit applause at concerts, playing for money, and compliments in general to make sure that we do what we do for the “right” reasons and are “correctly” motivated.
We need to use common sense when it comes to praise. Of course we have to be specific in our teaching in order to help our students learn. It makes sense to:
- Tell a student what he does right (but don’t overdo it).
- Tell a student what he does wrong and how to fix it (but don’t overdo that either).
- Tell him when he practices well and when he doesn’t and why.
If then you feel that you would like to give some hearty and sincere congratulations on something he has done well, go right ahead. IT”S THE NATURAL THING TO DO. And if you tack on the words “good job” at the end of a helpful observation, or even if you say it when warranted for any of your students’ successes, no matter how small, are you really going to ruin their chances or even discourage them? Let’s not be so mechanically consistent and dry. Let’s not demonize those two little words when there are far more important issues to resolve.
Share this:
Buy it on www.sharmusic.com - eBook format, avaliable worldwide, paperback in North America
COPYRIGHT
ABOUT
A music teacher’s thoughts and observations on the teaching and the study of a musical instrument, hoping to be of help to parents, students and teachers.
PHOTO
AWARDED TOP 25 VIOLIN BLOG
CATEGORIES
TAGS
ARCHIVES
-
Agosto 2022
Agosto 2023
Agosto 2024
April 2015
April 2016
April 2017
April 2019
April 2020
Aprile 2022
Aprile 2023
Aprile 2024
August 2014
August 2015
August 2016
August 2017
August 2018
August 2019
August 2021
December 2014
December 2015
December 2016
December 2017
December 2018
December 2019
December 2020
Dicembre 2022
Dicembre 2023
Dicembre 2024
Febbraio 2022
Febbraio 2023
Febbraio 2024
February 2015
February 2016
February 2018
February 2019
February 2020
February 2021
Gennaio 2022
Gennaio 2023
Gennaio 2024
Giugno 2022
Giugno 2022
Giugno 2023
Giugno 2024
January 2015
January 2016
January 2017
January 2018
January 2019
January 2020
July 2015
July 2017
July 2019
June 2016
June 2017
June 2018
June 2019
June 2020
June 2021
Luglio 2022
Luglio 2023
Luglio 2024
Maggio 2022
Maggio 2023
Maggio 2024
March 2015
March 2016
March 2017
March 2018
March 2019
March 2020
March 2021
Marzo 2022
Marzo 2023
Marzo 2024
May 2015
May 2016
May 2018
May 2019
May 2020
November 2014
November 2015
November 2016
November 2017
November 2018
November 2019
November 2021
Novembre 2022
Novembre 2023
Novembre 2024
October 2014
October 2015
October 2017
October 2018
October 2019
October 2020
October 2021
Ottobre 2022
Ottobre 2023
Ottobre 2024
September 2014
September 2015
September 2016
September 2018
September 2019
September 2020
September 2021
Settembre 2022
Settembre 2023
Settembre 2024
RECENT POSTS
Terry G and Me, or Terry Gilliam on Where (or What) Practicing the Piano Will Get You…
The Teaching We Don’t Do Is More Important Than We Think
Overwhelmingness or What Teaching and Motherhood* Have in Common
Cellphone Serenity
How to Build Your Reputation – the Kind You Want
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. Or How to Deal With Your Strong-Willed Stubborn Student and Survive
“Why Does My Teacher Get So Frustrated?” Letter to a Perplexed Student
Mount Rush-no-more….And How to Get There
Realizzato con VelociBuilder - Another Project By: Marketing:Start! - Privacy Policy