There’s a school of thought that too much praise is harming our kids. They think they are great singers and should win X Factor or play professional golf without too much effort.
A study in the Netherlands suggests that high praise is actually affecting children with low self-esteem the most because they are too afraid to take on new challenges when they think the stakes are too high.
Leading Australian education thinker Dan Haesler promotes the theory that certain kinds of praise can hold your child back from achieving their best. He argues that, in the pursuit of success, it’s important to teach kids child to fail.
Dan is coming to the Dubbo Expo on 17 May and the Wagga Expo on 14 June as part of the Boarding Schools Expo. Leading positive change to support improved learning outcomes will be the focus of his address.
Dan wants to encourage us to stop telling our kids that they’re great. He asks, in an age where everyone wins a prize, what are our children losing? While parents want their children to be happy and healthy and teachers want their students to succeed, he suggests that our actions could actually be setting our kids up to be miserable adults.
Read Dan Haesler’ bio.
