I first became interested in the idea of praise back in Semester 1 of my Bed program, while in Dr. Collins Social Studies class. While completing the courses weekly required readings I came across the article, “Five Reasons to Stop Saying ‘Good-Job!'”, and it really resonated with me. I knew that I was definitely guilty of over praising in my past and was very interested to learn more on the topic.

I originally came across this book while searching for literature on praise and its potential to limit, decrease motivation, and cause children to fall into fixed mindsets. My search led me to Chris Kennedy’s blog, “The Culture of Yes”, and subsequently to his recommended readings page and voila “NurtureShock” was found. I choose to share this book because of the way in which it challenged many of my assumptions, especially those involving praise, and because of the way in which it shed light on many valuable insights regaurding working with children in general (and as a teacher).

As laid out so nicely by Chris Kennedy on his blog, here are a few of the main takeaways from the book:

• We should be praising kids for their effort and not their intelligence — when we praise for intelligence, kids are far less likely to take risks out of a fear of being wrong.  We need to praise the process.
• Kids are getting an hour less sleep than they did 30 years ago, and it is having a dramatic effect on academics and emotional stability.  There is a likely link between the lack of sleep and the obesity crisis among young people.
• We should consider talking with children about race like we talk to children about gender. We can be more explicit at a younger age rather than just create environments where kids are exposed to many races and cultures.
• We need to give kids some immunity for telling the truth and offer them a route back to good standing when they lie.  According to the research, lying is a sign of intelligence, and often those kids who lie do better on academic achievement tests.
• We shouldn’t be testing students for being gifted until Grade 3, and those that do the tests for Kindergarten are wrong more than they are right (okay, this wasn’t really new but it confirms what is largely the norm in Canada).
• Books and videos that end with a problem being resolved often have a negative effect on kids; if much of the book or show is spent on arguing, threatening, excluding or teasing, kids remember this and not the resolution.
• Teenagers arguing with adults is a sign of respect, not disrespect, so much as the arguing is constructive to the relationship.
• There are many programs that, on the surface, appear like they should be great, but have little effect on kids behaviour (DARE was cited as a primary example of this).  The thinking is, since human behaviour is incredibly stubborn, it is extremely difficult for interventions to be successful with kids.
• When parents have a conflict, they are better to resolve it in front of their kids rather than continue it outside of their presence — this allows kids to see the resolution, and not only the conflict.

In my search I also came across this awesome video, “Carol Dweck- A Study on Praise and Mindsets”, that outlines the value of praise and what it means for the development of either a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. The video is based on the research of Carol Dweck, whose primary research interests are motivation, personality, and development.