Praise is powerful.

It has an effect on people.

It makes them feel good.

It validates their actions.

And it shows them that we hold them in high esteem.

Praise makes people feel important and recognised; it lets them know that their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Through this, praise can positively reinforce behaviour.

We associate what we have said or done with the positive feelings receiving praise brings about, and so we repeat our actions.

Praise assigns status.

When we praise somebody’s actions, we are suggesting that what they have done should be taken as a positive thing.

Such public affirmation is a signal of status being acknowledged.

Consider, as an alternative, an individual who feels their efforts are always ignored and that they never receive the praise they believe they are due.

This person would feel as if their status was being denied or sidelined.

It is no surprise that in many surveys of people at work, one of the top factors suggested to improve motivation and morale is not additional money, but praise from a manager.

Acknowledgement of our efforts has a major impact on how we see ourselves and how we believe other people see us.

To further illustrate the point, think back to a time you received a piece of praise that has stuck with you.

How did it make you feel?

Then, think of a time you observed another teacher giving a powerful piece of praise.

How did this affect the learner to whom it was directed?

There is an old saying that excellent motivators can make people feel ten feet tall.

They do this through praise; by drawing the individual’s attention to all the things that are good about them and that they can do well.

Doing this fills the person with confidence, giving them a sense of their own worth and of the intrinsic value they possess.

The validation that praise provides cannot be underestimated.

On top of this, we tend to feel positively disposed to those who praise us; flatterers attempt to make use of this psychological feature as a matter of course.

If we feel positively towards someone, we are more likely to work hard for them, to follow their instructions and advice, and to believe that they have our best interests at heart.

In terms of behaviour management, praise allows you to:

• Reinforce the behaviour you want to see
• Build rapport with your learners
• Provide a model of how to interact positively
• Generate a positive atmosphere in your classroom
• Encourage learners to appreciate that you and they are a team working towards a common goal.

When delivering praise, you should ensure it is genuine and specific.

Learners will quickly spot praise that is false.

This will lead them to distrust subsequent praise you deliver, whether it is genuine or not.

To deliver genuine praise, you need to look at what learners are doing and think about how one or more elements of this are good.

And you need to do this regularly.

Irregular praise may be viewed as suspect.

It provokes the question: why now?

This implies that the praise is being given for an ulterior motive, not out of habit.

Giving praise that is specific helps to increase the sense that it is genuine.

This is why praise that is general or banal is often dismissed as so many empty platitudes.

The argument is that any one of us could say those things as they do not require any effort.

To demonstrate, compare these two pieces of praise:

• Wonderful work today, Annika, you are doing great.
• Wonderful work today, Annika, you kept going even when things were challenging. That’s what we want to see.

There is nothing wrong, per se, with the first example.

It is said with good intent.

However, used repeatedly, such phrases lose the meaning they might once have contained.

This is why they become platitudes.

The second example is genuine by virtue of being specific.

The teacher is referring to something real and tangible that happened during the lesson.

By praising Annika for the determination she showed, the teacher is both indicating that this aspect of her behaviour is good and should be repeated, and that they noticed this and want to make a point of saying that it was good.

Consistently delivering praise of this type – genuine by virtue of being specific – lets you maximise the benefits that flow from using praise, both in terms of behaviour and in terms of the learning that follows.

Avoiding the perception of insincerity is as important as avoiding insincerity itself.