Praising and rewarding children

Exercise 1 : Fill in the blanks with the best term from the choice of terms given.
List of terms :
(a) self-esteem ; (b) process-directed praise ; (c) helplessness ; (d) person-directed
criticism ; (e) product-directed praise ; (f) token economy ; (g)person-directed praise ;
(h) process-directed criticism. (Note : two terms are used twice).
Sentences with blanks
A (1) taken economy program is used to give children rewards such as stickers or
tokens for completing tasks or homework. A focus on (2) self-esteem in the 1960s
and 70s led to the idea that uncritical praise promoted self-esteem. Studies have
shown that uncritical reward and praise can actually have a negative impact on self-
esteem.

Praise such as “Good boy”, or “You’re so smart”, could be characterized as (3)

person-directed praise. When children constantly hear this type of praise they may
come to believe that a less successful performance makes adults think of them as
not “good” or “smart”. They may avoid taking risks and not attempt to master difficult
challenges. Children can also receive (4) process-directed praise such as, “You
worked hard on that problem”. An example of the combination of the two types of
praise, called (5) product-directed praise would be, “What a nice drawing”. Different
types of praise were directed at children facing challenges. Children who had
received (6) person-directed praise quickly gave up, were not successful at solving
tasks, and expressed that they did not enjoy doing the tasks.

Children who had received (7) process-directed praise spent more time on tasks,
were more successful at solving them, and even expressed that they enjoyed
working on the challenges. Similarily, according to Dweck’s theory, (8) process-
directed crictism such as, “That solution does not seem to work, can you try
another one ?” led to continuing to try hard to master challenging tasks while (9)
person-directed crictism did not make children want totry harder. On the contrary, it
led to a sense of (10) helplessness.
Writing :

In traditional cultures around the world, parents used to avoid praise. They worried
that too much praise would inflate the ego, make children overconfident. At the
present, there is a lots of experiences and studies that discussed about the effects of
praising and rewarding children, Several studies believe that praise is an effective
way to reinforce good behavior.

First of all, praise is when you tell your child that you like what they’re doing or how
they’re behaving. Praise works best when it describes the behaviour you like. And if
we talk about reward, it is a consequence of good behaviour. It’s a way of saying
‘Well done’ after your child has done something good or behaved well. It could be a
treat, a surprise or an extra privilege.

Secondly, the use of praise or rewards makes children feel evaluated and judged,
praise can boost good feelings and increase motivation. It can inspire children to be
more cooperative, persistent, and hard-working. Children are more likely to repeat
behaviour that earns praise or encouragement. This means you can use praise and
encouragement to change difficult behaviour and replace it with desirable behaviour.
Rewards can make praise and encouragement work better. So when you praise or
encourage your child’s behaviour and then reward it, the behaviour is more likely to
happen again.

As we said before, there’s certain types of praise can lead to helpful outcomes,
such as process-directed praise which is a praise that recognizes a child’s choices or
hard work, for example : « Well done for eating your dinner », « I like the way you’ve
found a spot for everything in your room ». Done right, this sort of praise can inspire
kids to keep working at challenging tasks. Process praise can also foster the most
essential attitude for success, self-esteem and the belief that we can improve
ourselves through effort. There are also hints that praise for prosocial behavior can
help young children develop good “people skills.”
But it’s not all good, praise can also have negative effects. Some kids bristle in
response to praise, and even those who like praise can experience negative
effects. In addition, There’s some studies that suggest some types of praise which
can actually undermine your child’s motivation. Depending on the circumstances,
praise may also damage a child’s self esteem, or fuel the development of narcissism.
In the long term, reward systems are ineffective. So that’s why praise should be
given mindfully and take into account a child’s age and stages of development as
well as their individual ability. Also, children can pick up when we are not genuine,
especially if we use the same words of praise over and over again.

Finally, the timing of praise is very important, interrupting a child when they are
concentrating can make them lose their focus and reduce their motivation to continue
on with the activity. Furthermore, parents should remember that kids need their
support and encouragement all the time, not just when they’ve accomplished
something praiseworthy. Parents should also avoid praising kids for achievements
that come easily, and praise that compares their child to others