Not long ago, I heard a teacher in Missouri justify the practice of handing out stickers to her young students on the grounds that the children had earned them. This claim struck me as an attempt to deflect attention away from --- perhaps to escape responsibility for --- the decision she had made to frame learning as something one does in exchange for a prize rather than as something intrinsically valuable. From the book, Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, As, Praise, and Other Bribes. See it here on Amazon: amazon/Punished-Rewards-Trouble-Incentive-Praise/dp/0618001816 We believe that the learning is indeed its own reward! At first, students may find it strange that they dont get stickers or candy, but that soon vanishes as they find themselves learning for learnings sake. Authentic engagement with a good teacher is itself an enjoyable and rewarding process. When this is coupled with successful learning of the subject matter, there is simply no need for something else, provided the student possesses a sufficient interest in the subject to warrant the investment in the first place.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 13:33:26 +0000