[etni] Fw: re: praise
- From: "Ask" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 13:59:55 +0200
----- Original Message -----
From: David Bruce - davidbrucegilmore@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: praise
Hi:
Having thought quite a bit about criticism and blame, positive and negative
energy in the class, discipline, and respect and how to attain the aim of
"having pupils do what I ask of them (as opposed to "what they are told"), I
would like to share my thoughts.
I do believe that we live in a time and a place where the concept of
"respect", in its full meaning - a) to feel or show deferential regard for;
esteem and b) to avoid violation of or interference with - is seriously
deficient. I believe that this deficiency is at the root of many of our
society's problems, especially, perhaps, in terms of education.
If, as it is commonly said, part of a teacher's job is to be "a policeman",
then a part of that is to "punish" or to discipline the class; or, if one
wishes to avoid using those terms, to "reflect to them the natural
consequence of their actions", which is a somewhat ambiguous phrase
representing an ambiguous idea because, after all, the natural consequences
depend on a specific point of view, which, in our case, belongs to the
teacher. However, I ask myself if this is enough? We are seeking to get our
classes to behave in a civilized fashion, we can all agree on that. But for
whom? For us, the teachers? For the kids themselves? For the future of
society?
The point is that if one takes a broad-minded view of what our goal is in
terms of "getting the kids to behave", we see that nothing we do is worth
anything if it hasn't reached the level of understanding. Do we want to
treat our students like glorified puppies, making extensive use of the
carrot and the stick? Or do we want them, little by little, to reach an
understanding that will transform their behavior, because it will transform
them?
If you ask me, education is about the transformation of the individual I
think that we teachers have to ask ourselves what kind of a society we =
want to live in, and then we have to do what we can in the classroom to
create it, acknowledging both the relative smallness of our role as well as
its importance. When we do that I think we realize that it is not just about
this or that tactic of praising or blaming, but about something deeper. We
will continue to use both positive and negative reinforcement but we will
push for something beyond "good behavior" as a result of these environmental
factors. We will push for actuall understanding.
Have a nice day,
David B. Gilmore
LEV WROTE:
It does not look like food for thought to me - it looks more like
wishful thinking. The whole concept is a product of the
politically-correct society with little-to-no sense of responsibility,
of no connection between performance and assessment. I wonder
how many Brits (the article comes from Britain, right?) really
appreciate that sort of approach. Most will probably say it's a
good way of spoiling a child.
Aviva wrote:
Hi Lev, I think you should try praise and not be such
a skeptic. IT is not wishful thinking !!! IT has worked for me
both with kids and adults.EVERYONE likes to get praised
(including ME) and from my experience it's one of the
best ways to change ANY behavior. And why would it spoil
someone to hear something good about himself !!!!
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