Praise

Dweck

The self-esteem movement told us that the most important thing was imparting self-esteem to our children.Parents and teachers went about imparting self-esteem by "telling their children on a regular basis how smart and talented they were." But "[r]esearch shows that children cannot be given self-esteem through this kind of praise" and, moreover, that "this type of praise actually makes their self-esteem fragile--and undermines their motivation to learn" (55)

Fixed and growth mindsets. Some students believe that intelligence is fixed and cannot be changed, while others believe that through hard work they can become smarter. The former students care more about appearing intelligence than actually learning; they will "even sacrifice learning that is crucial to their future success if they have to admit ignorance or risk showing deficiencies" (56). The latter students, on the other hand, "care first and foremost about learning" (56).

Those who believe that intelligence is fixed "see making mistakes" and showing effort as "sign[s] of low ability." "These are both terrible beliefs because mistakes and efforts are integral parts of learning." Ericsson has shown that "the main thing that distinguishes people go to the top of their fields and make great creative contribution from their equally able peers is the effort they put in" (56).

Setbacks. Students with fixed mindsets "lose heart in the face of setbacks," believing that setbacks mean "they lack ability and [that] ability is fixed." "Students with a growth mindset say that after a failure they would simply study more in the future or study in a different way...As a result, these students end up earning higher grades" (56).

The problem w/ praise. "By praising a child's intelligence or talent, [parents] could be conveying to their child that intelligence or talent" is fixed. "They could also be conveying that brains and talent are what they value the child for, so that children become afraid that if they're not successful, they won't be considered smart anymore and they won't be valued anymore" (56).

Experiment (Mueller and Dweck 1998). Children given problems from IQ test. After answering, some children given praise for their intelligence: "That's a really good score. You must be smart at this." Other children were given praise for their efforts: "That's a really good score. You must have worked really hard." This affected the students.

1. Those told they were smart were more likely to develop a fixed mindset, and those told they worked hard a growth mindset. 
2. Students labeled "smart" "now wanted easy tasks so they wouldn't jeopardize their label 'smart'," while students praised for their efforts "wanted more challenging tasks they could learn from, even if they would make mistakes" (57). 
3. When those praised for being smart were given more difficult problems, they "crumbled. They lost confidence, they lost their enjoyment of the task, and their performance--even on subsequent easier problems--fell significantly." According to the self-esteem movement, praise was supposed to give them more confidence "but instead it made them fragile." The other students "maintained their faith in their abilities, kept on enjoying the task, and showed markedly improved performance over time" (57). 
4. The first group of students were more likely to lie about their scores when talking to other students. "This means that praising children's intelligence makes them so invested in their intelligence that they cannot admit their mistakes. If they cannot admit their mistakes, they cannot correct their mistakes." It makes sense why kids in "the over-praised generation" cannot accept constructive criticism--because they have received "the message that mistakes are unacceptable" (57). 

What to do instead. Given process change--that is, "praise the process the child engaged in--the effort, the strategies, the perseverance, the choices--rather than the intelligence or talent they think the child showed." Example: "I really like the way you did those hard problems. You stuck to them until you figured out how to do them" (57). 

It's important to help children "enjoy challenges and struggles"--e.g., "Wow, that was challenging. That was fun!" "I like the way you struggled with that. I love a good struggle" (58).

Given process-focused criticism. Children need "helpful feedback that is essential to their learning." This type of feedback "helps children understand how to do better the next time"--e.g., "When you struck out your last time at bat I don't think you were keeping your eye on the ball. Let's try to make sure to do that next time" (58).

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Dweck, C.S. (2008). Mindsets: How praise is harming youth and what can be done about it. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 24(5), 55-58.