"You're so smart vs Great effort!"

Today, the Learning Key workshop discussed the difference and importance of intelligence praise versus effort praise. Personally, I was mostly praised for my grades and intelligence throughout my youth. Teachers and family know me as the "smart one." Hearing about this misunderstanding hit me hard, as I realized it had shaped my confidence and abilities as a child.

From a very young age, teachers mainly praised me for my intelligence. Things I already knew because I attended preschool or was enrolled in many extra activities. I was never the student who raised my hand to answer questions in elementary school; in case my answer was wrong and I would become embarrassed. My family also only praised me for high grades, molding me to fear anything below an A for as long as I can remember. I began only to show off my high grades at home, my family making jokes about the missing percentage. If I came home with a 95% on a test, I was met with "Where's the other 5%" and a laugh. 

I then began to notice that this behaviour was different for my siblings and other family members. They did not have the same grades as I, nor did they have the same work ethic or drive to perform in school. However, they were still equally praised for their efforts in different things. For example, my brother was quite good at hockey, and my cousin at dance. They were commended for their effort in performance and commitment to the sport. Although I too competitively competed in a sport, swimming, my praise was focused on my school performance. 

This negatively affected my development, stunting my growth mindset as I transitioned to high school and university. I quickly began to avoid things I believed I wasn't competent in, such as team sports and math. I now realize that as I become a teacher, I will work to not make this mistake. Praising effort is much more important than praising intelligence in establishing a growth mindset, allowing confidence to grow and flourish in the early development years. As I look back on my more confident peers and family members, it is the ones who were praised for their efforts, regardless of the outcome, who maintain their confidence in adulthood and possess more of a growth mindset.

As a teacher, I am going to focus on occasional, intentional, and equal praise for all types of efforts. Ensuring a growth mindset for my students is encouraged. I will also continue learning how to grow confidence in my students and unlearn negative and fixed beliefs. Practicing reflective practices and continuing my learning to teach will support this. Making my lessons thoughtful and inventive for my lesson examples will help my students stay engaged and bring real effort forward, strengthen perseverance, and avoid reduced motivation or worse performance after failure.

By: MeeganP@OTU