Educational thought-leaders in America have asserted for decades that promoting higher self-esteem among school children would lead to higher achievement. However, after all the certificates for good effort and awards and ceremonies for participating, results indicate few academic gains from this approach.
In the words of Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, a leading researcher in the field of motivation, world-wide lecturer and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, “We used to think we could hand children self-esteem on a platter. That has backfired.”
An increasing body of research shows that unearned praise does not help students perform better – rather, it develops:
- “Praise junkies” dependent upon outside feedback rather than their own motivation
- Confident students who perform poorly compared to their international peers
- Positive attitudes at the expense of building skills required to be competent
According to Dr. Dweck’s studies and books Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development and Mindset, what helps students perform better is:
- Praise for taking risks and giving a strong effort
- Developing the personal conviction that their intelligence will grow by hard work
- Clearly describing what proficient performance looks like so they know the target
For those who are concerned about our student drop-out rates, perhaps the most encouraging conclusions from these studies is that communicating the message “You can become more intelligent through hard work” served as an important motivational tool for keeping two high-risk groups engaged in learning: (1) struggling students who felt they had no chance to succeed and (2) gifted students who were prone to “coasting” or who became easily frustrated when they didn’t succeed.
Putting the Ideas into Action
- Make praise specific – for the person, the achievement and its value to the organization
- Encourage risk-taking – with the mistakes will be breakthroughs that make a difference
- Provide opportunities to “get better” (training & new assignments) – engagement follows
