Explicit, expected and immediate praise
I recently read Dean’s For Impact ‘The Science of Learning’ (2015). The document identifies six key questions about learning that should be relevant to nearly every educator. Principle 5 presented the the question ‘What motivates students to learn?’. At first sight, a broad question that might cause a lot of teachers to sigh and roll their eyes as the generalisations are rolled out, old tricks renamed and repackaged are introduced to the conversation. However, I was intrigued to read on as I was curious to see what the focus would be to the so far concise responses.
Principle 5 is broken down into sub discussions. One of which is praise and currently this is a strong a focus and discussion in my school environment and it caused me to reflect.
It outlined:
‘’Teachers control a number of factors related to reward or praise that
influence student motivation, such as:
whether a task is one the student is already motivated to perform
whether a reward offered for a task is verbal or tangible
whether a reward offered for a task is expected or unexpected
whether praise is offered for effort, completion, or quality of performance
whether praise or a reward occurs immediately or after a delay. ‘’
(Deans for Impact, 2015)
This clearly breakdowns various aspects of motivation related to praise and shows that different reasons, delivery, expectations and timing can vary the effectiveness and motivation for the student.
When I deliver praise, I don’t think deeply about how, when and what praise I give. I balance verbal and written with physicals prizes with awards/badges. It is mostly random, time dependent, delayed and not consistent week by week or term by term. I’m not alone, and the natural inconsistencies come along with busy schedules and human error, but we lose out on something that we often think is intrinsic and not extrinsic, student motivation. How many teachers are making small decisions that mean their students are less motivated?
How many teachers have praised a student 1-2-1, but not in front of the class or forgotten to write a certificate for a rewards assembly?
(verbal or tangible)
How many teachers have promised a reward and then left in the staff room and have to bring it next week?
(immediately or after a delay)
How many teachers have put their expectations on the board to start a term or project but not said what praise they will receive if they meet these expectations?
(already motivated to perform/expected or unexpected)
How many teachers have met a parent on parents’ evening praising the child for their success and the parent has no idea they are a high achiever or put in consistent effort? (effort, completion, or quality of performance)
After reading the various motivating factors again, I tried to summarise all the options and ‘ors’ in the bullet points into one definition:
A reward should be verbal and/or tangible (ideally both), expected, immediate and from a task the student is already motivated to perform offered for the behaviour you want to promote (and make desirable, whether that is effort, completion or quality of performance).
This is detailed, clear and I find it hard to disagree with any of these aspects. The concept of praise being expected and immediate means you can foster student motivation for the behaviour you want to see. It highlights the connection between what we give praise for to how the students behave. As teachers we should give praise and rewards for students displaying positive habits as well as outcomes.
In my school environment, we have rewards system centered around habits and if I, or other classroom teachers want to see more positive habits and behaviour from students, we need to use the system more regularly and immediately following the desirable behaviour. In this way students can see the instant impact of their positive habits.
Making the praise explicit, expected and immediate, it is more likely the student motivation will be increased and the target behavour will become more engrained.
References
Deans for Impact (2015). The Science of Learning. Austin, TX: Deans for Impact.