1. It is more important to praise well, rather than to praise often. What constitutes a ‘good praise’ will depend on the purpose of the praise. Praise can be a tool to help develop positive teacher-student relationship, reinforce positive behaviours, provide students with feedback and guidance, and can motivate students to put in effort.

2. It is more effective to give specific praise as global praise is not effective in changing behaviour. Providing specific praise helps students understand what positive behaviours they should continue to practice. It can subsequently lead to independence in practicing these behaviours.

3. Frequent praise may be a motivator for younger children that want to please authority figures, but may not work for older children who may find it less credible when given too frequently. Praise given has to be sincere as students can sense when it is not genuine.

(1) The use of praise is to encourage a desired behaviour from the receiver, or to reinforce a positive behaviour. 

(2) Need to be task-specific when praising so that the student knows why he/she is being praised.

(3) Praise a student for the effort put in, or when there is an improvement. 

(4) There seem to be a shift in mindset on the use of praise in schools. Previously, teachers did not praise as much (actually they scolded more than praising). Now, the teachers are more encouraging and would praise students for showing that they are putting in the effort to improve.

3 things I've learnt from the article:
(1) It is important to be genuine when we praise. We would also need to take into consideration other factors such as the age of the student(s), our objective of praising (at the class level or individual level?), the teacher-student(s) relationship, and the situation.

(2) At the individual level, we should use more specific praise to encourage student(s) if we are trying to modify their behaviour(s). 

(3) Important to reflect on our use of praise to ensure its effectiveness.

After reading this article however, I have learnt that:

1.       Quality of praise is far more important than the quantity of praise. I praise too freely and easily that is loses the essence therefore, it is important to be purposeful and genuine in your praise to not lose the power of what praise can do for students.

2.       It is important to use specific praise as this focuses a lot on the effort of the student and the feedbacks from the educators. From this, there can then be effective thought process on what is the next step towards their behavioral change and growth of the student. 

3.       Praising only in school context would not be sufficient for there to be growth or change in the student as another half their time is spent at home. Therefore, also as stated in this article, that praise should be shared with parents to create a positive home-school communication and environment which assists in the reinforcement of behavior change.

1)     The use of praise is to motivate students to keep up their good work. Students deserved to be praised after they had done something good; for example if a student had completed a remarkable task with assertive effort, without fail teachers will praise them. Praise is a form of reward to encourage students to achieve better result and to keep their spirit high. 

1) There are different types of praises. Namely, Global Praise, Contingent Praise, Specific Praise, Evaluative Praise, Age-Related Praise, Credible Praise and the definition of Praise vs Intrinsic  Motivation. 

2) To praise a child too frequent may not be an effective approach. Instead it is important to well praise a child and be specific on what we are praising for. For example, praising students with just a simple comment “Good Job!”, it may be very generic and may not linked to any task or behaviour. It will be good to give a specific praise as it is an effective reinforcer for students. For example of specific paise; “Thank you for asking permission before using my stapler!” (praise on their positive behaviour). 

3) Students who are more challenging to handle need to be praised frequently as teachers need to motivate them through positive treatment. 

4) Younger students are more receptive towards praise publicly while older students are more sensitive towards praise as they thought teachers will judge them.  

3 things I have learnt from the article:
1.       Effective praise is powerful! Hence, educators need to be clear of the intent to praise as it encourages and reinforces positive learning and behavior. 

2.       Additionally, to praise effectively, educators have to assess how individual students respond to praise, how they perceived the praise in terms of their ability, effort and outcome of their effort. 

3.       Effective praise focus on the student’s effort and the process involved. It is informative, appreciative, sincere, age-appropriate, avoids competition and not controlling.

 

The article has brought to light some misconceptions I have had to the concept of praise,(in no particular order)

Other learning points that resonated with me are the arguments highlighted on the effects of contingent praise. This suggests the need for an educator to balance and take into account a multitude of factors. They are the background of the child, intensity of behavioural challenge, and knowing when to transition out of contingent praise to praising the child’s autonomy as suggested by Robins (2012) or specific praise. 
Additionally the arguments between descriptive and evaluative praises were rather thought provoking. Bear (2010) and Webster-Stratton’s (2012) stance on a child’s imitation behaviour based on social learning does play a foundation or a motivational step towards imitating the socially appropriate behaviour. However, social-comparison may incite competitiveness and not mastery. Therefore, I do agree that subsequent steps could be followed up with descriptive praise in order to provide a platform for the child to learn to be more independent and self-reliant.

Lastly, while the article considered a wide range of factors and effects to praising a child, one could also consider a naive approach of asking the child on their preference of praise.(example: high five for every attempt or verbal praise)

I understand praise to be a useful form of positive enforcement, and that it is especially useful in establishing a positive and conducive learning environment for students. Additionally, from my previous work with children with autism, I found that it is perhaps good to consider giving more specific praises in order for the recipient to be clear and aware as to the specific behaviour/task/outcome that brought about the praise.

3 things I’ve learnt from it:

Praise is a form of compliment. It can be used to encourage certain behaviour or outcome. However, it has to be specific and genuine in order to be effective.

 

3 things I have learnt from the article:

1. Global praise though not effective in changing behaviour, it can improve teacher-student relationship and create positive classroom evironment.

2. Contingent praise that is specific, genuine and task-related is generally most effective in reinforcing desired behaviour.

3. Evaluative or judgmental praise can damage student-teacher and peer relationships and therefore should be avoided.