Celebrating success: How to praise students and motivate learning

Praise and recognition are powerful tools. They show students what to repeat, make them feel confident in their abilities, and motivate them to continue learning. When implemented effectively, they transform your school into a more positive, supportive environment.

While celebrating success should play an important role in the classroom, educators must be intentional about how they administer it. Thoughtful feedback can strengthen students’ self-belief, whereas generic and inconsistent praise can backfire, feeding into limiting ideas about innate intelligence and skills. With that in mind, let’s explore how to praise students in a way that truly empowers all learners at your school.

Which types of achievement to celebrate in the classroom

Psychological studies show that students are more likely to have good relationships with their teachers and feel intrinsically motivated if they receive regular praise. The challenge is that feedback and recognition can often have unintended consequences for classes. If teachers only praise learners for their innate abilities, for example, they may develop a “fixed mindset” and see their progress as out of their control. 

For this reason, educators must be mindful of how they deliver feedback and celebrate achievements. It’s best to avoid personal praise such as “you’re good at writing” and focus on effort, behaviour, and specific improvements.

For instance, instead of telling a student they are a good writer, you might say they have incorporated a lot of your feedback about supporting arguments in their essays. Or you might highlight some original phrases and praise them for their creativity and hard work. 

Praise can go beyond academic work to encompass how students show up in the classroom. It’s also important to praise students for being helpful, having a good attitude, supporting their classmates, and showing kindness in their daily actions. This way, students who aren’t as academically gifted as others still feel valued and know that their actions make a positive contribution to the classroom community.

What makes recognition and reward valuable

Considering how and when you deliver praise can help ensure it has the desired effect. Learners are more likely to respond well and absorb the feedback if you get elements of the wording, timing and presentation right. Here are the best techniques for praising students based on expert insights and research:

• Specificity: Studies show that learners experienced higher levels of engagement when teachers linked praise to specific behaviours.

• Meaningful: Feedback should relate to real results rather than arbitrary milestones or factors out of the learners’ control. For example, congratulating a low-performing student for their high attendance is meaningless if their parent is the one ensuring they arrive in class on time.

• Verbal and non-verbal: A psychological review noted that students respond to both spoken praise and gestures like head nods, smiles, and thumbs up.

• Fair and consistent: As much as possible, educators should strive to ensure they recognise every student in their class and deliver the same level of praise for similar achievements.

• Holistic: Students may believe teachers only acknowledge them because they have to, so involving the whole class in praise can have a powerful impact. 

Celebrating success in your specific context

Cultural context can have a significant impact on how praise is received. Some classes may expect public recognition for their achievements, whereas others might respond better to written notes and emails at home. For example, a recent study found that many US students find public praise “embarrassing” and prefer private feedback.

Considering your cultural context can help you tailor feedback to your students’ attitudes, preferences, and expectations. Ask questions like: What milestones and achievements do schools typically celebrate? Which types of feedback are socially acceptable? Where might certain types of praise and reward feel overly familiar?

However, it’s equally important to consider where praise and feedback might improve your existing culture of learning. Students may not be used to receiving certain types of praise, but that doesn’t mean they won’t both appreciate and benefit from it.

Developing a culture of reward and recognition

Recognition works best when it’s embedded in your school culture rather than confined to isolated classroom moments. It creates consistency, reinforces your shared values, and makes praise feel more meaningful and authentic. 

All this is particularly important when it comes to young learners who tend to have very rigid ideas about rules and fairness — they’ll be looking to see that their teacher’s behaviour is part of a broader, more cohesive whole.

Here are some ways to build a strong culture of recognition and reward throughout your school community:

• Outlining how to handle praise and recognition in your school policies;
• Regular training sessions with all staff faculty on how to deliver feedback;
• Frameworks for giving praise and rewards to ensure consistency;
• School-wide initiatives that recognise a diverse range of achievements;
• Class discussions on what success looks like and how to celebrate it;
• Newsletters to parents and guardians on how to motivate their children during homework;
• A leadership culture where students take more ownership of feedback, praise, and rewards;
• A well-being framework where praise is used to support students’ mental health and foster a positive environment.

While praise should follow your school rules and policies, individual teachers should feel free to tailor feedback and recognition to individual students. If they know a child won’t respond well to standing at the front of the class to accept a reward, for example, they should have the flexibility to explore alternatives.

Final thoughts

Praise may seem like a simple act but it can have a powerful impact on students. Educators must take feedback and recognition seriously and understand the psychology behind them to ensure they contribute to a positive learning environment.

The key is to make celebrating student success a part of your policies and processes. Praise is most likely to be effective when it’s entrenched in your school culture and an everyday part of the learning experience and process.

If you’d like to learn more about effective praise, take our course on Understanding Motivation in the Classroom on the Online Support for Schools platform. Our module on Feedback for Motivation shows educators what effective praise looks like and how to incorporate it into your school practices.