Discussion Four

Cherae L. James

July 5, 2016

EDLD 590

 

Discussion Four

It can be argued that students are either praised for their intelligence or for the effort that they make.  This weekend, I had the pleasure of viewing Carol Dweck’s video, “The Effects of Praise on Mindsets” on YouTube.   In the video, testers deliberately praise students differently:  "You are smart" or "Good job", one type of praise that affirms innate ability, "You tried really hard" or responding by saying nothing is different as type of praise that affirms effort.  In this study, they gave a group of 5th graders a set of easy puzzles to do.  All of the students were successful and praised for how smart they were.  The 5^th graders smiled when they were praised for their intelligence, whereas those that were praised for effort said very little or no response.  Testers, then, gave students a set of harder puzzles that they struggled with.  In this study, when the 5^th graders where given a choice, many of them wanted to go back to the easier puzzles, where they had been praised for their intelligence.

I feel as though effort is a means to an end to the goal of learning and improving. Too often, praise is given to students who are putting forth effort, but not learning, in order to make them feel good in the moment, for example: “Great effort! You tried your best!” It’s good that the students tried, but it’s not good that they’re not learning.  I believe that the growth-mindset approach helps children feel good in the short and long terms, by helping them thrive on challenges and setbacks on their way to learning. When they’re stuck, we as teachers can appreciate their work so far, but add: “Let’s talk about what you’ve tried, and what you can try next.”

After viewing this video, I feel as though the wrong kind of praise creates a self-defeating behavior, whereas, the right kind of praise motivates students to learn.  I believe that they are also afraid of effort because effort makes them feel less intelligent.  Which can cause many bright students to stop working in school when the curriculum becomes challenging.  We as educators need to maximize students' confidence in their abilities, their enjoyment of learning, and their ability to thrive in school by praising their intelligence.  Dweck’s research has demonstrated the importance of praise that recognizes effort.  Praise that acknowledges process related activities such as practice, study, persistence and good strategies are proven to instill and develop a growth mindset in learners.