My philosophy of education - Essay Example

There are many ways for caregivers to express their love, but for me praise is the best way. The power of praise is phenomenal. Praise can motivate children to act appropriately and can help them grow mentally. In addition, caregivers’ praise can make children more confident. Whenever children do well, caregivers should praise them. This will help children feel a sense of accomplishment, thereby enabling them to engage in self-improvement. According to the Pygmalion effect, if caregivers have big expectations of children and give them praise, the children will improve in many ways and develop good attitudes.

During an observation at Battery Park City School, I found an example. In a class of first graders, when a girl was moving a bean bag chair by herself, a boy classmate walked up to her and helped her move it. As soon as Liz, who is their teacher, saw it, she said, “Oh! Look at him. How gentle he is! You are a gentleman.” In this case, the boy is recognized and feels a sense of pride with what he has done. This helps the boy learn that helping others is a good thing. The teacher’s words are helpful not only for the boy, but also for the rest of students in class.

Hearing their teacher praise their classmate for lending a helping hand will help them realize that helping others is a good thing. Through a few words of praise, students could learn what is right and it helps form their personality. In this context, praise is an effective learning method and teaching method. Alice S. Honig discussed the positive solutions to address typical difficulties. One of the positive solutions mentioned was praise. According to Honig, “Children who are tense may show signs of pressure and frustration, like biting their nails or stuttering.

Harsh response will only make children more tense. Instead, find situations in which these children shine, and bolster their self-confidence with Praise. For example, ‘Marques, you did a beautiful job of hanging up your coat!’ ”. For Gartrell as cited in Meece and Soderman, appropriate praise is one that is “sincere, constructive, and encouraging”. Children tend to flourish when adults take notice and recognize a child’s effort and accomplishments. Recognizing positive changes in a child’s behavior and abilities also helps.

Pro-social behavior is developed when the positive results of a child’s behavior on another is pointed out. In promoting a positive verbal environment, praise is used as a means to encourage a child’s intrinsic motivation. As the articles mentioned earlier clearly indicate, praise is the most effective way to instill confidence in children and make them develop dreams for their future. In addition, praise can improve and help children’s learning ability. In Liz’s class, whenever her students answered questions, she gave a big praise with a clap.

One example is when Liz showed the class a clock and asked her students what time it is. When a student answered, she showed a big smile and said “Good Job! What a smart boy! ”. Like Liz does, giving a compliment can make children feel fulfilled in their work. Teacher’s modules by APA prove it by stating “Offering praise for students’ work and efforts can alter this mindset so that students can begin to view their own intelligence as something that can be developed. This mind-set of developing intelligence will increase students’ ability to “bounce back” in the face of academic setbacks and other difficulties.”