Rewards & Motivation
“While the use of positive feedback and rewards can help sustain and guide a child’s developing morality, an overreliance on rewards and positive adult feedback can backfire and actually undermine the child’s moral motivation” (Nucci, 2001).
As a teacher you are faced with many challenges, one of them being behaviour modification systems, for example the use of intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. The statement in the article really made me wonder; how do you motivate today’s children? What are the proper techniques or even more so, what are the effective techniques? Changes within our society let alone the classroom have posed a challenge for all educators. Classrooms consist of students that come from various backgrounds, upbringings, family structures and cultures, which result in different discipline and motivational experiences. Some children have been raised by busy working families who use tangible rewards such as toys, candy and treats to simply get the kids to obey everyday rules. Which then might confuse children as to where, how and why they earned a reward. I do believe rewards in the classroom can be an effective teaching tool but only if used correctly. I think some suitable rewards can include: student of the month certificates, reading awards (book mark), or participation and appropriate behaviour awards. We as educators should be conscious that children are very intelligent and understand right and wrong, therefore we need to set high expectations and challenge the students to strive and see what they are capable of accomplishing. Students should be motivated to achieve and succeed which is the best reward.
A.D
Nucci, L. P. (2001). Chapter 10: Fostering the moral self. In Education in the Moral Domain (pp. 196-214). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
As a teacher you are faced with many challenges, one of them being behaviour modification systems, for example the use of intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. The statement in the article really made me wonder; how do you motivate today’s children? What are the proper techniques or even more so, what are the effective techniques? Changes within our society let alone the classroom have posed a challenge for all educators. Classrooms consist of students that come from various backgrounds, upbringings, family structures and cultures, which result in different discipline and motivational experiences. Some children have been raised by busy working families who use tangible rewards such as toys, candy and treats to simply get the kids to obey everyday rules. Which then might confuse children as to where, how and why they earned a reward. I do believe rewards in the classroom can be an effective teaching tool but only if used correctly. I think some suitable rewards can include: student of the month certificates, reading awards (book mark), or participation and appropriate behaviour awards. We as educators should be conscious that children are very intelligent and understand right and wrong, therefore we need to set high expectations and challenge the students to strive and see what they are capable of accomplishing. Students should be motivated to achieve and succeed which is the best reward.
A.D
Nucci, L. P. (2001). Chapter 10: Fostering the moral self. In Education in the Moral Domain (pp. 196-214). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.