Maren brought home a Student of the Month award last week. We congratulated her and talked about what the award might be for (since she really didn't know)... but although I'd never let her know it, I'm disheartened. At this point you may be shaking your head and saying, "What?!?" Here's the thing: if these kind of rewards are going to be given, I'm glad that my daughter is the kind of kid who would get one. But it's the whole system of reward-giving that I'm uncomfortable with.My feeling was even stronger when I asked her teacher what the award is for. Here's the explanation: someone who sets an example for the other kids by being obedient, someone teachers and staff can point to and say, "Look, Maren has done all her work. I really like how Maren is sitting quietly," hoping that other kids will be motivated to change their behaviour if they see someone else gets rewarded for good behaviour.
The whole thing is tricky because I understand that teaching kindergarten (or managing a school of 300 kids) is no easy task, but this kind of system is very far away from what I would wish for as the ideal. There are a few reasons I'm opposed to the culture of reward that is cultivated in schools.
The first major thing is that kids are manipulated externally into performing well (when they're bring watched) rather than being intrinsically motivated to enjoy learning, be kind to others, etc. A perfect example of this is Maren's printing homework: the joy and sense of accomplishment Maren used to feel when she printed something on her own has been replaced by anxiety that she won't perform well enough to get the sticker. If she made a mistake, she used to say, "Oops. It's just a mistake, I'll try again." Now I'm hearing, "It's wrong! This is horrible! I'm never going to get a sticker!" She seems to be losing confidence in her ability to evaluate her own work and behaviour.
to be continued...
4 comments:
Wow, thanks for posting this Mel. See these are things that I have not yet thought of since I don't have any kids yet (yes I said yet for all of you whose jaws just dropped). I totally see your point and I'm interested in the "to be continued"!
Erin
Ahh Melanie, a girl after my own heart. You know I'm completely on the same page as you here, and we've talked about this oodles. As Constance Kamii said "If we want children to become able to act with personal conviction about what is right... we must reduce our adult power and avoid the use of rewards and punishment as much as possible". Your example with Maren is a perfect demonstration of how rewards crush intrinsic motivation. Schools... GRRR!!! People could probably read more about this on www.alfiekohn.com. Oh Alfie! One of my favs! Thanks for taking a stand against the status quo Mel, and challenging people's perspectives on this!
I totally understand your concern.
Unfortunately the lack of intrinsic motivation can be a problem. Especially in the Language classroom (My specialty). so what do we do with a group of kids who wouldn't otherwise do their homework unless they're offered a reward?
I give stickers for completed homework, and for trying to complete it. I don't give rewards for correctness. I hope that the students will learn that the effort (especially at this stage) is valuable, so I attach a value to their work.
But it's certainly not a desire to give a sense of competition to the kids.
It's partly a result of the educational system here. It breeds competition because the highest test scores get into the most respected university, so the kids are told that they must work hard, not for the knowledge that they'll gain, but for the test that they must pass, to be able to take the next test. This is even shown in the use of the grade curve - where in a class of ten students only two can get an A, 3 a B and so on. So the student who gets a 98 will end up with a C because four students got 99's or 100's.
Unfortunately, this can be seen happening currently in the US with the Every Child Left Behind policy (It's how teachers refer to the useless republican curriculum).
You offer a challenging question.
How can teachers instill a sense of Intrinsic motivation with the students negotiating their own rewards?
There's an MA thesis in there somewhere, but for someone else to finish, because I'm about to finish mine ;)
I appreciate your perspective as a teacher, Liam. You are an illustration that most (maybe all) teachers are well-intentioned when it comes to using rewards as motivation. But can motivation ever come from outside a person?
That's unbelievable about the grade curve! I can't imagine how disheartening it would be to perform almost perfectly on a test and still come out with a C! What a system to work in! Although I don't imagine it's the same at Maren's school, I think the long-term effect is probably the same: eventually coming to value product (test scores and grades) over process (enjoyment of and interest in learning).
I still can't believe that grade curve!
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