Alfie Kohn.... Stop Saying " Good Job" and instead ask " Why do you think you did a Good Job"?

Alfie Kohn:
 Author, and  lecturer 

Shifting Our Thoughts to Benefit those Who Learn from Us....

ARGUMENT... Alfie Kohn's article "Five Reasons to Stop Saying Good Job" was eye opening to me. He argues that saying "Good Job" to young children is actually more destructive to a child's growth and development then we originally thought. I think that we are all guilty of praising children when they have done a good job because it is something that we have been conditioned to "want","need" and "expect" to validate our behavior. Kohn lists five reasons why saying Good Job is destructive...

1. Manipulating children.... as Kohn argues that by saying Good Job benefits adults more than it does the child. It is a simply way for adults to recognize the child's efforts and dismissing them just a quickly. A professor once told me that " You should never be absent in the presence children", children are curious beings and they have a lot of questions. It is much easier for parents and teachers to say " Good Job" because we have always assumed it to be a positive reinforcement, it allows for recognition of the child's efforts, and it is easier for US,as adults.

2. Creating Praise Junkies... Praise junkies, you know the type. They need constant reinforcement for every little thing that they do. Kohn says that by praising children for everything that they do, or some mundane feat that we are creating dependent thinkers. He says " The more we say, " I like the way you did... or " Good Job", the more kids rely on OUR evaluations, Our decisions about what is good and bad, rather than learning to form their own judgments". I never thought about the concept of praise with this lens. I always believed that it was beneficial to tell kids when they did do a good job. I do have a story that I would like to share that relates to this article and my jaw dropped open after reading this, because I am SO GUILTY of this with my second graders. On the first day of my SLP, I meet with six children in a group,they are all wonderful and cute, that's how they get you!!! Anyway to make a long story short there is one girl that I work with who is constantly distracted, she interrupts the other students, and she is what some may call a menace, however, she is a cute one. After the first meeting with her  I remember saying " Good Job", " You  did great"!! It wasn't until I read this article that I realized that I was only saying that because it was easier for ME to get  her to follow along and pay attention or so I thought.The next time I meet with this girl, the same thing happened, she was a distraction. As I look back on it know I remember her saying " Will you tell my teacher that I did a Good Job"?, and my reply was " Only if you do a Good Job", she asked me what I  meant by this and I told her. The next visit was a complete transformation, she was paying attention, following along, sitting quietly, and raising her hand.Instead of " sugar-coating" her by saying that she did a good job when she didn't; I gave her the tools she needed in order to do a good job, and I can happily say that she is making her own decisions and changing her behavior on her own! I can now tell her teacher that SHE did in fact to a good job a good job !Amazing to have a " Kohn moment" without realizing it.

    

3. Stealing a Child's pleasure... Kohn argues that by saying " Good Job" we are telling kids how to feel instead if letting them make their own choices.He says that there is no difference between saying a " Good Job" or a " Bad Job", the most notable feature judgment isn't that it's positive, but that's it's a judgment. And, people including kids, don't like being judged". The part of childhood is allowing children to discover there own feelings and emotions and encourage them to make decisions, by constantly saying " Good Job" says they we agree with their choices even if they are not the correct ones.

 4. Losing Interest... By constantly reinforcing that children are good at everything that they do, allows children to not try as hard in one particular challenge. Failure is a part of life and children must learn at an early age, that they will not succeed at everything, and that it is okay. We must let children find their own interests and encourage them find the reasons why they like that particular activity. For example, if a child loves to paint, instead of saying " What a beautiful painting!" ask the child to describe what her or she has painted. It allows for the child to verbally expressing what THEY think their artwork represents.

 5. Reducing achievement... By promoting constant reinforcement it limits the child's ability to " take risks- a prerequisite for creativity- once they start thinking about how to keep those positive comments coming". The points that Kohn makes are important to understand and realize that each child needs to find there own path and have to come to their own understanding of themselves and their own thoughts. I think that Kohn provides the framework that makes us understand that children are unique and they have their own opinions and thoughts and it is our job to encourage them to think for themselves and make good decisions.

For further information about Alfie Kohn please check out his website at....Alfie Kohn

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                               Synthesizing Kohn and Kohl.... How do they work together???

After reading Alfie Kohn's article it is imperative to view Herbert Kohl's article " I Won't Learn from You", as the embodiment of what can happen if we dismiss children and do not promote individual thought and growth. Kohl discusses the concepts of "Refusal to Learn","Not Learning", and " Failure to Learn". He identifies the individual experiences of students from various backgrounds and how they were perceived as not learning or refused to learn. These students were dismissed as either not capable of learning or simply being lazy. But the truth of the matter is that these students were not challenged, not simply in the difficulty of the material but how there teachers engaged the students. Every child learns differently and have there own ideas of how the world works. Unfortunately, the curriculum that is in place is not designed to engage each and every student because not every child can identify with the history of our past.

 One thing that I have learned during my SLP, is that every child is unique and it is important to try and get to know what makes that child interested in what they are learning. I told you about the experience that I had with the little girl that was always distracted and how I would just say " Good Job" , because it was easier for me. I learned that I needed to be clear, direct, and explicit in my directions, and it worked! In continuing with learning how to reach everyone of my students I needed to establish a way of relating to each student.I had a Kohl moment during one of my experiences at the middle school that I am also volunteering at. The students were working on their personal narratives and I was helping them to add sensory details. I noticed that many of the students were having difficulty with the concept, and I needed to connect with them immediately! I asked one student if she like to draw, and  she said she loved to  I then explained that writing was like drawing or painting, you have an image in your head of what you want the final product to be,  so how can  you translate that image in your head onto the paper?? I told her that it needed detail, whether it was a specific color or using a certain texture to bring it to life. It was like an "ah ha" moment for both of us. I was struggling how to explain sensory details to her and I incorporated something that she was familiar with and by showing interests in what she liked, she was able to have a better understanding of what to add to her paper to make it more appealing to the reader! I think that we assume because a child is not paying attention that they are  unwilling to participate or they lack the ability to learn. When in reality, they are unable to relate to what you  are teaching because they may not be familiar with the tactics that you are using. This is why it is important to try and get to know each student because it allows for a one on one connection and can be a very useful tool in explaining something complex or difficult in terms that they personally can relate to. I think  this is Kohl's point, instead of dismissing students as lazy or unwilling to learn, we need to find a way to connect to our students, this will create an engaging learning environment and allow the child to strive for excellence. I think we as adults forget the creativity that children posses, and if we really listen to children we can learn a lot about them as well as ourselves.


Talking Points:
1. What can we as future educators do to promote a positive learning experience and environment that includes every child?
2. What are some creative learning tools to help us implement Kohl and Kohn's philosophies on learning?