Friday, November 21, 2008
"A Lot of Fat Kids Who Don't Like to Read"
I found myself agreeing with most of what Alfie Kohn stated in this article, however I think that this article is one sided and I do not agree strongly one way or the other. I agree with Kohn that "rewards actively displace the motives and values that matter." Some children stop doing things because they know inside that it is the right thing to do and start to only do things to receive something in return. Their intrinsic motivators are completely replaced by extrinsic motivators. I have witnessed this on an almost day to day basis at my work (At a Latch-Key/Daycare). Children will tell me exactly what they did that was and if I do not give them something right away and instead just say good job they will ask me, "well don't I get a treat for doing that?" This just makes me mad and I tell them no, that they should have done it because they knew it was a good thing to do and that it would help somebody else in some way. The schools in my hometown all have this program where if you are a "bucket filler" (you do good things and help people without being asked) you will receive a "Ribbit Award". On the other hand, you do not get any award and you are scorned for being a "bucket dipper" (you do bad things and are mean to other people). This program has worked for our schools and I will even hear the children saying to one another "stop dipping in my bucket!" I know it sounds funny, but it seems to work. The children are receiving a reward for being good, but it is not a reward that I believe will stop them from doing things because they know it is right and instead do things only to get a "Ribbit Award." Overall, I believe that it really depends on the child, the reward, and the circumstance to decide whether or not giving a reward is a good thing.
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3 comments:
I agree with your post Kaitlinn, I definately think rewards that are given out to readily and hastily will cause children to forget why they did something right in the first place(which is simply because they wanted to)but in terms of cutting out rewards entirely that doesn't seem right either. Because if no one was to ever notice anything you ever did that was good it would be hard to keep doing the little things. The fact is that people need everything in moderation, because we all lose motivation sometimes and a reward can be the one incentive to get us back on track to remember why we like doing good deeds.
I found this article very interesting especially as a future educator. I thought the entire article was based solely on opinion and was very one sided. I believe that rewards given out without any type of caution will then result in children who expect a constant strand of rewards without giving a result. I believe that it is hard to actually agree with the author because working inside of an Special Education and First grade class three times a week I see that these reward system in place actually give children that motivation when they have none.
I believe that each reward system should be in place with certain precautions.
I also read this article. And like Tiffany I found it interesting but incredibly one-sided. While I do feel that incentives can have a negative impact on a child's internal motivation, I also believe that incentives are a great way to get children in the habit of exhibiting certain behaviors. I know that as a child we had the Seabert award at my house, and if my mom happened to see us do something very kind in the family or out in public, we would get to sleep with this stuffed seal. This incentive I think positively impacted my behavior.
I also was thinking about grades, and how that system is all about getting the incentive (good grade) and not the actual knowledge (at least from a kids perspective). I was always worried about getting A's in school, even in elementary school. Later in school, like last year, when I started to realize that grades weren't the real purpose of school, learning was supposed to be, the study skills and such were habitual (because that is what I needed to obtain my incentive).
So what I am trying to say is that sometimes incentives can help children develop habits that are very useful in life. On the other hand, incentives can also obscure the real reason that an activity is important. A child who is used to getting money or candy each time they do something nice, may not have the chance to experience that simple warm fuzzy feeling a person gets when they act altruistically. The imposed incentive may mask the real-life incentive, and the child may actually miss out on the true meaning and value of acting kindly.
Behavior training is very interesting and seems incredibly complex.
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