Discussion 4
Learning Goal: I’m working on a writing discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
1) Key idea: praise vs. encouragement. It may seem like semantics, but choosing to encourage instead of praise can make big differences in your students’ performance and resilience in the face of challenge. (Carol Dweck is a current theorist who is very popular in the media right now for her work in this area, called “Mindsets”.) See https://www.positivediscipline.com/articles/encouragement-vs-praise-teachers for a nice summary of the differences and this article for some additional concrete examples. When working with children, which method do you tend to use more? What are a couple of specific ways you might you “tweak” your own language to become more encouragement-based?
2) Is there a teacher or other person in your life who has helped you to develop resiliency – the ability to get up and try again when you fail at something? What is one concrete way you could help to promote a culture of resiliency in your specific classroom / practice?
3) When you were growing up, what types of reinforcement did you have related to your school grades, either from parents or from others in your life? Were they positive or negative? How did those reinforcers affect your school academic performance? (Key theorist: Skinner)
