Praise and Criticism

Hello everyone,

I've been thinking about praising and criticizing students.

This is another difficult thing to encapsulate, and it takes a lot of practice.

Generally, in education classes, I was taught to praise publicly and criticize privately. I was also taught to be lavish in praise and stingy in criticism.

Both of these rules need qualification and clarification, and the greatest truth in praise and criticism is the same as the greatest truth in education: human beings are extremely complex, and the best way to treat them is as individuals. Absolute individuality is almost impossible in classes of 40 students, but the need to recognize everyone's individuality over-arches everything.

There are some things I've learned about Garfield students. They are frequently embarrassed by praise, and excessive praise in front of the whole classroom sometimes backfires. Praise given privately, so that other students don't hear it, is often very powerful. Completely objective praise ("So and so has the highest grade in the class," or "This is the highest test score in three periods," or "This class has the highest average of all my classes") should be given publicly, however.

Teachers often make the mistake of praising too much. That's the same as not praising at all. It's as useless as underlining everything. Praise that is too lavish seems forced and is usually ineffectual.

Criticism rarely needs to be public, but it may occasionally be. If the entire class is misbehaving, then the entire class needs correction. If the entire class wonders why you're reteaching a concept, it is probably necessary to tell them that none of them showed mastery.

Any sort of criticism or reproof should be limited to no more than is necessary. Don't rail on the students; never shout; don't repeat their faults endlessly; never make sweeping judgements. Say simply what they did and what their consequence is ("You misbehaved, and I am imposing this consequence"; "You all failed the test, and I can see that I need to reteach these concepts").

If individuals do wrong, use the least reproof necessary to get them to behave. If, for instance, someone talks out of turn, it's usually sufficient to make eye contact with them. If the eye contact convinces them to not talk out of turn, then there is no need to do anything else.

Avoid humiliating them. If you humiliate them, they are likely to try to get back at you, and you will likely deserve it.

Personally, I think that in this, as in all things, honesty is most important. Both your praise and your criticism are more powerful if your students know that you're always upfront with them.

Jeff Combe