Generic ‘Very good!’ creates dependency and ‘praise junkies’. Descriptive praise, naming exactly what was achieved, lets children internalise their strengths. Praise should change with age.
Moves
- Describe: “I see a neat and carefully written paragraph.”
- CBG for social behaviour as well as work.
- Praise early and widely to pre-empt misbehaviour.
- Peripheral / proximity praise: praise the on-task child next to the off-task one.
- Positive compliment first, then name the behaviour, framed so the child owns the change.
- “By the way” praise for older children.
- Age bands: generous under ~7–8, sparing later; public for little ones, private for upper primary; more adult tone with 10–12s.
- Praise is “never [to be] empty or insincere”.
Theory
Read gives no formal theory. (Claude: closest research is Dweck/Mueller & Dweck 1998 on process vs person praise, and Hattie & Timperley 2007, where “self-level” praise is the least effective feedback level. Cite these, not the blog, for DELTA.)
Apply in my context (Claude)
- Tanga coins are evaluative praise in currency form. The risk is exactly the “praise junkie” effect (Kohn, Punished by Rewards). Pair every coin with a descriptive sentence, so the coin marks the description rather than replacing it.