Pay as you learn: do schools give kids too many rewards?

Teachers used to rely on the stick to keep order in classrooms. But with that option now closed there is concern that some have come to rely too heavily on the carrot.

Most schools now have elaborate reward schemes, and well-behaved pupils are liable to return home garlanded with 'pupil of the week' prizes, merit awards of varying descriptions, and other gongs.

If they are particularly good they may acquire enough points for a CD voucher or a trip to the cinema. And they may even receive prizes for not behaving badly.

But now some educationists believe that the Oscar-winner's approach to education - where even crèches have graduation ceremonies - has gone too far.

In a post on the popular London Times blog School Gate, the educational psychologist Frank Glennon has sparked a debate with a blistering attack on American-style school rewards schemes.

The psychologist says: 'the logical end point of this crazy world of incentives is that we will eventually end up paying teenagers in cash to come to school on time and complete assignments.

'If you think that's fanciful, it's already happening in large cities in America.'

In some schools in the United States, pupils can earn up to €2,000 by improving their grades.

The abolition of corporal punishment in Western countries left a void that had to be filled. For a time teachers relied on detentions and lines in order to curb disruptive pupils, but these proved time-consuming and ineffective.

Rewards schemes started out as a well meaning way of 'being positive' and acknowledging students' efforts. However, Frank Glennon says: 'it has mushroomed into a key strategy that has become deeply embedded into the fabric of most schools.'

The approach to discipline and learning is about reinforcing good behaviour and lauding achievement.

Frank Glennon said one of the effects is to create an expectation that even the most routine academic accomplishment or tiniest benevolent act should, in some way, be rewarded. It erodes the idea of learning for its own sake.

'We create children who become dependent on adult approval and become almost paralysed when they are not in receipt of it.

'Rewarding good behaviour can make it less likely to occur again in the future because what happens next time when there's no acknowledgement or reward?'

The psychologist continues: 'it may also encourage children to scan for self-interest before doing something (What's in it for me?) as opposed to acting selflessly or just doing the right thing because, well, it's just right and what's expected.'

Frank Glennon says that this approach to tasks impedes academic progress.

He argues that it encourages a superficial approach to learning that is focussed on a pay-off rather than striving to ensure that the piece of work reflects the very best the pupil is capable of.

'It undermines that which is hard-wired within children -- an innate curiosity about the world and an intrinsic motivation to learn more about it.'

Of course there are many parents who go along with the prize-winners' approach to education. In the more affluent areas of South County Dublin, some students will have been told that they will receive a car if they do well. This amounts to little more than a bribe.

Frank Glennon argues that at a younger age the competition to win good behaviour awards undermines teamwork and co-operation in classrooms.

'Nowadays it is common for children to police each other's behaviour and act as an extra pair of eyes.

'Selfishness and an absence of "esprit de corps" are unfortunate side effects that come from so-called "positive strategies".

'Recipients of rewards tend to be disproportionately from the top or bottom of any class.'

In response to the psychologist's attack on rewards schemes, Dr Gerry McNamara of the Education Department at Dublin City University said: 'he makes some reasonable points, but I think he completely overreacts to some fairly modest reward schemes in schools.

'There is no prospect, for example, of schools paying teenagers to go to school here. We are a long way from that.'

Dr McNamara says: 'one valid point he makes is that competition to win rewards can be harmful. These schemes probably work best when classes do them as a group.'

He also thinks rewards could have a negative impact. 'If the same students are always receiving the same rewards it can be demotivating for the rest of the students.

'However I believe that rewards schemes can be used to motivate students. Not every student is going to be intrinsically motivated to learn maths, for example. So, some kind of minor reward can help.'

'I believe it is wrong to suggest that this approach is in some way new and has been imported from the United States. There have always been rewards in schools, and there has usually been more emphasis on the carrot rather than the stick.

'When you think of it,' he concludes, 'our whole exam system is based on the idea of reward.'

Irish Independent