Should We Stop Saying “Good Job”?

A few weeks ago, I saw the fabulous movie “Whiplash” about a dedicated drummer vying for the praise and attention of his intensely effective yet sometimes abusive college professor. If you haven’t seen this film, make it a priority as soon as you have the opportunity. As a teacher, it stayed on my mind for well over a week. It made me think of a lot of things. The professor in the film is a talented teacher, creating a top student jazz band that would make professionals envious. But his methods are ethically questionable. He uses embarrassing details about students to humiliate them in class out of revenge for playing out of tune. He slaps a student to the beat of a metronome when the student is out of time. He even throws a cymbal at the poor kid when he doesn’t get the beat “just right.” It’s pretty hard to watch at times.

And though I of course disagree with his abusive behavior, there is one thing he says that has haunted me. He rants about how the world no longer has great musicians and he attributes this to the fact that kids are praised for mediocre work and constantly told “Good job” when it isn’t deserved. This bothered me a lot. It bothered me, because I agree with him, and yet, I am so guilty of this.

As I was writing my lesson notes in Music Teachers Helper that week, I noticed how I automatically wrote “Good job!” and when I really got honest with myself I had to admit that most of the kids did NOT do a good job. So why do I say it? Why does anyone do this?

I think we all want to be positive influences on our students. We want them to feel encouraged and we want them to know we believe in them. But I have to wonder if too much praise is actually detrimental.

A month ago, I saw a blog post on Facebook written by a piano parent who had just gone to her daughter’s piano recital and she was absolutely horrified by the poor performances. What bothered her the most was the applause and praise everyone gave the kids for such bad work. My cheeks burned as I read that, because I remembered my earliest days as a piano teacher who thought it was more important to praise a child than to ensure they perform well. Now I wouldn’t dream of putting a kid on stage who hadn’t done the prep work, but I do remember being more concerned about self esteem than a good job in those days and my recitals reflected that.

When I watch Youtube videos of teachers giving out lessons to either a real life student or simply the at home audience, I notice they throw out the term “Good Job” so casually, with out any thought at all. This phrase has become so cliche’, that it is hardly believable even if you did in fact perform well.

Yesterday, I went to a master class taught by Christopher O’Riley, famous classical pianist and host of NPR’s “From the Top.” 3 incredibly talented students performed. They really were incredible. Virtuosic playing and sensitive expression, but Mr. O’Riley didn’t shy away from critiquing the details of their performances. He dove head first into the areas that needed improvement. At the same time, he had a light sense of humor and a calm presence. You never got the impression he was offended or annoyed by anything, but at the same time, he didn’t seem too concerned about stroking anyone’s ego. And I never once heard him say “Good Job.”

I’m curious about starting a discussion on this topic. The opinions could be strong on both sides, but I feel firm in my feelings that too much praise is detrimental. What are your thoughts on this? Do you praise too much too often, and if so, why? Are you ahead of the curve and already on a “good job” fast?