“Great Job!”… “Good girl!”… “Way to go!”… It’s time to shake up your praise and make it more meaningful and effective.
Well-timed and genuine praise is one of the most effective tools piano teachers have in their arsenal. But all too often, in an effort to be positive and encouraging, we fall into the trap of hollow praise.
All of a sudden our words don’t have as much of an effect on our students; in fact, they may not even notice anymore. Or, if they do notice, it might actually have the opposite effect we’re hoping for (Mrs. Wilson said that was amazing… but I know it wasn’t. She must think I won’t be able to actually do it.)
How to Avoid Hollow Praise
You may be thinking “But I want to encourage my students! I don’t want them to think that they aren’t doing well!” and I’m with you! We want piano teaching to be an esteem-building activity that produces well-adjusted and confident children. But to get to this end goal you’ll want to ask yourself the following questions before “Amazing!” slips through your lips.
1. Was it truly deserved? Kids usually know when they’ve actually accomplished something great… or when they really could have done better. Receiving praise when they know that it wasn’t their best quickly takes the meaning out of praise when it actually is well-deserved.
When you say “Good job!” or “Great work!” constantly these quickly become unheard statements…. just background noise. Even worse, they give the impression that your students don’t actually need to try hard to do better. Studies have proven that children who are automatically praised will learn to avoid challenges… they learn that they don’t need to try hard to get positive feedback. Yipes!
2. Am I being specific? Statements like “Great!” or “Good girl!” carry little meaning and can come across as fake (even when deserved). But being specific with your praise and focusing on the effort rather than the person (“I can tell you spent a lot of time on measure 32… you must be pleased with how it sounds now.”) carries more weight and demonstrates true sentiments much more effectively.
Specific and effort-based praise also clearly shows your student what she needs to do to replicate her success again and again. She knows exactly what she did right and can then repeat it.
3. Is This Praise Encouraging Self-reflection? Instead of the “white noise” of “Good work!” and “Way to go!”, praise can actually be phrased in a way that encourages piano students to think about the process they used to find success.
Learning to self-reflect produces students who can problem-solve (The last time I had trouble with something this is what I did) and who are self-aware and active participants in their own learning. Try praising piano students using sentences such as “What did you do to make that line sound so beautifully expressive?!”
4. Have I said this before? We all fall into habits of speaking to children and often we use the same words over and over again when praising our students. Bring more meaning to your well-timed and well-deserved praise by varying your vocabulary. How? Simply type “Great” into thesaurus.com and add some new words to your repertoire!
Marcia says
I make an effort to use the word “correct” when speaking about notes and rhythm. Also, I am encouraging more self assessment on the part of older students. Eg. Play this section again please and listen carefully. Can you start the crescendo softer? (Goal) Perhaps the self recognition of a musical detail done well or a musical detail improved is a better esteem builder than the teachers comment?
Bonnie says
Interesting. I make an effort to avoid using the word “correct” because I don’t want my students to be afraid of trying and being not-correct. I strive to use words like “improve” or “successful” or we talk about whether the student met their goal this time through the piece.
Susan says
I agree with you Marcia, my mantra lately is “Ask, don’t tell” especially when the piece needs work.I find that hollow praise is damaging. Instead I ask what do you think about your dynamics rhythm … Etc.
They normally will look at me very honest and say this could’ve been better or that could’ve been done differently. So it’s beginning a dialogue that some practice strategies can be introduced.
Andrea says
Hi Susan – this is a fabulous point – asking the student for self-reflection is a great way to gain insights into their true understanding of something. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Teresa says
Thank you for putting into words what I am thinking (and I’m sure I’m not alone!), and the help and encouragement you give to help us all improve our teaching.
Andrea says
You’re so kind Teresa! Glad you are enjoying the blog.
Alissa says
Have you ever heard of a man named Alfie kohn? He writes and lectures all over north america about teaching and parenting. He speaks a lot about the adverse effects of praise. Reading his books has completely changed how I speak to my daughter and my students. His website is http://www.alfiekohn.org he has a couple of books out as well as a lot of articles on his site. Of particular interest is the one titled 5 reasons never to say good job.
Andrea says
This is so funny Alissa – we actually just have booked Alfie Kohn for a podcast interview mid February! Really looking forward to sharing what he has to say with our podcast listeners 🙂
Sandra says
I have always avoided hollow praise. That way, when I do give my students praise, they know I mean it. …But there are ways to work on a piece that are gently encouraging. You can say, this is working; that bit was lovely — but let’s have another look at this line. And then we discuss it and work on it a bit.
Andrea says
Great points Sandra – thanks so much for sharing.
Kevin Smith says
It’s a very difficult balancing act. I reserve praise for genuine achievement. At other times I try to bring a sense of fun to ‘needs improvement’. Make the one bar that the student can’t get the quaver in a game. If they get it wrong, they have to tell you a joke, hop on the spot. If they get it right, you have to tell a joke, hop on the spot. I find (as silly as that sounds), that it keeps the lesson light hearted and fun but encourages progress. Laughter in a piano lesson is always good. WHEN they do get that bar and you DO praise them, they KNOW they have achieved something and they get a joke/small reward for the work!
Marcia says
I just read the article 5 reasons to stop saying “good job”. WOW! It really made me think about praise…in all kinds of situations.