Student Interpretations of Teacher Verbal Praise in Selected Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Choral Classes

Abstract

Choirs who were unfamiliar with the teacher differed from the teachers' own students in interpreting the praise: Students who knew a teacher labeled the praise as deserved in five clips, but unfamiliar choirs thought the praise served an instructional purpose. In four clips, choirs differed in their interpretations of the type of instructional praise.Students familiar with a teacher recognized their teacher's intent in praising in 12 of 16 clips. In some situations, familiarity with a teacher and context made a difference in detecting the teacher's purpose for praising. In five clips where teachers identified the praise as deserved, students unfamiliar with the teacher and context thought the praise was intended to encourage students. Students across choirs were particularly sensitive to a teacher's use of praise to send a message to other students.Students are keen observers of teacher praise. Findings suggest students discriminate between praise directed at the performance and praise used for instructional purposes, suggesting that observation instruments that rely on a single label for praise might miss important information. Findings support the importance of determining how teachers intend praise to serve and how students interpret the behavior. 11ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to the members of the committee for the time spent critiquing this work. I am especially indebted to my mentor, Dr. Hildegard Froehlich, for sharing her expertise in classroom interaction, and for the hours spent in lively discussions of many of the points this document has attempted to address. Special thanks is due Dr. Harry Price, University of Alabama, for his encouragement, which was so instrumental in helping me to complete this project. Finally, I wish to recognize the contribution made by my husband, Dr. Samuel E. Taylor, Baylor College of Dentistry. He not only shared his considerable knowledge of research design, but also provided unending patience and encouragement that would not let me fall short of reaching this goal.

Teacher instructional language and student experience in middle school choral rehearsals

“…She used a relatively high percentage of scaffolding language during those interactions. The need for music teachers to provide individualized attention is reinforced by a recent finding that students in middle school choral ensembles differ in their interpretations of teacher praise (Taylor, 1997).…”

“…In each instance, the researchers have indicated a general lack of research concerning the relationship between teacher instructional behaviors and student learning or attitudes. This relationship has received little attention at the middle school level, although researchers have examined several areas of conductor behaviors, including repertoire choice (Funderburk-Galvan, 1988), approval and disapproval comments (Derby, 2001;Walker, 1990;Taylor, 1997;Fiocca, 1989), and the organization of rehearsal time (Copley, 1990).…”

Action Research in Music Education

“…I identified several studies concerning student perception of teacher behavior (Morgan, 1992;Schmidt, 1995;Stamar, 1995;Taylor, 1995). These studies explored choral students' responses that dealt with perceptions of their teachers.…”

Exploratory study of approvals and disapprovals in Australian instrumental music teaching

“…Positive teacher feedback needs to be perceived by students as being sincere, as students want to feel that they have earned this praise. A recent study by Taylor (1997) confirmed that students are able to distinguish between deserved teacher praise and merely encouraging comments. Salzberg and Salzberg (1981), in their study of the effect of negative and positive feedback in improving left-hand positions of elementary string players, showed that praise after a longer training session resulted in the greatest improvement for all subjects.…”