After reading the Article Five Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!” by Alfie Kohn, I have to reconsider my perspective on praising children for their actions. One rather intriguing point that Kohn makes is that consistent praise can actually cause a child to lose interest in that activity. According to Kohn’s article, praising a child after completing an activity such a drawing, dance, or a project can cause the child to no longer be interested in the task, but instead, they will now focus on how to obtain more praise. I found this point particularly surprising, as I originally thought that saying “Good Job” would encourage the activity. However, Kohn’s theory of this reward system backfiring seems quite valid, and I would have to agree that too much praise could cause a child to forget the activity and refocus on gaining approval. Another surprising point was that praise can cause lower achievement in children. According to the article, praise can cause a child to underperform when repeating the task, due to pressure, a loss of interest, and a focus on gaining praise. I can personally relate to Kohn’s idea that praise can cause pressure on a child to do well, especially in a musical context. Another interesting point Kohn makes is the idea that sometimes, no response is the best reaction. According to Kohn, there is no valid reason why a child needs praise to continue a behaviour. Perhaps not giving a child a verbal reward would actually help them to continue that behaviour, and not lose interest or enjoyment.
Although I felt that Kohn made some very sensible points, I do have a few issues with the article to address. Firstly, Kohn argues that praise can cause a child to feel manipulated, because by praising behaviour we are taking advantage of a child’s dependance. I disagree with this idea, as I personally do not think that praising a child will cause a sense of manipulation, but rather a desire to receive more praise. Another issue is the idea that saying “Good Job” takes away a child’s ability to think for themselves. Although Kohn makes some interesting points, how can we be sure that saying “good job” will steal a child’s pleasure away from their own competence in the task? I think this is a bit of a bold assumption for Kohn to make, because it seems to me that in some circumstances, praising would actually elevate their joy in their accomplishment. Another issue I have with the article is Kohn’s idea that using “You did it” as a substitute for”good job”. I personally feel like “You did it” is a bit vague, as well as a form of praise that is essentially the same as saying “good job”. I think that a better approach would be Kohn’s next suggestion, to propose a question such as “How long did it take you to draw that?” or “I see you used a lot of green in this drawing”. I think acknowledging the child’s completion of the task is almost the same as rewarding it - instead, I think a parent/teacher should act interested in what exactly the child has done.
Kohn’s article definitely showed me a new perspective on the purpose of praising children, and the damaging effects it can have on child development. Although I did not agree with everything Kohn had to say, I definitely thought the author made some very fair points as to some of the adverse effects of saying “Good job”.