Kohn (2001) demonstrates the implications of giving children excessive positive reinforcement for tasks they have completed. The author feels that the common phrase — "good job" — has a detrimental effect on a child's personal development. More specifically, the overuse of the statement gives them a false sense of achievement and a reliance on praise from others. The following discussion will relate this concept to the music classroom. Before reading the article, I always believed that unnecessarily praising people was unproductive; if someone receives continual praise, they will feel no incentive to improve. If music educators give out this praise excessively, students will feel they are so proficient on their instrument that they require no amelioration. Teachers, therefore, should only applaud their students for commendable achievements rather than simple, non-difficult ones. However, this model is challenging to implement as educators will think: what does one define as a praiseworthy achievement? I describe a "praiseworthy achievement" as the act of experiencing mistakes and finding solutions to overcome them. If a student believes that success is the only commendable achievement, then they will struggle in any field; they must know that mistakes are an everyday part of life. Finding solutions to a problem and realizing success in the first attempt at an endeavour are equally commendable. Furthermore, considering the amount of failed auditions one will face, music performance is a profession that requires an incredible amount of tenacity. This reality makes the overuse of sentiments such as "good job" very damaging to a musician's growth. If educators accustom students to continuous praise and a sense of automatic achievement, they will not pursue the career path because of this unrealistic expectation. Therefore, teachers must commit to fair criticism. However, educators must not achieve fair criticism through statements like: "I really liked that but I would improve on..." This sugar-coated approach defeats the purpose of giving feedback; the child will focus on the positive aspect of the comment, preventing any growth from happening. This notion makes this paradigm tricky to incorporate into a music classroom. Hence, educators must give focused feedback — statements that clearly define points of improvement for the student.
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