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0In this episode, we talk about praise and why telling children they are smart can sometimes make learning feel more risky. Drawing on the classic work by Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck, this episode looks at how different kinds of praise may shape children’s willingness to take on challenges, respond to failure, and protect their sense of identity. Instead of repeating the simple advice to praise effort rather than intelligence, we go back to the research and ask what children may quietly learn from the way adults respond to success, struggle, and failure.
🌻 Timeline
Opening: why talk about praise again?
The classic study on praise for intelligence and effort
What happens when children face difficulty
Why being smart can become a label to protect
A note on growth mindset and why it is not a magic switch
What adults can do when children struggle or fail
Closing thought: learning should not feel like a test of identity
