| Date post: | 03-Mar-2017 |
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Motivation From Within: Moving Beyond
Rewards and Awards in Schools
Presentation for the 2017 Central Alberta Teachers
ConventionChris Wejr@chriswejr
www.chriswejr.com
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Two Schools: No rewards system. No awards.
Picture a school…
CC image from G. Grossmeier https://flic.kr/p/7Es433
What does this say about this school?
"I come to you humbly not to tell you what to do on your journey but to share with you what I have learned on mine”
Wab Kinew
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Thompson Rivers University: http://flickr.com/photos/thompsonrivers/8518479289/
Rethinking REWARDS and AWARDS
CC Image from audiencestack.com
The need to reward and award…
CC image from Vic. https://flic.kr/p/9JpUiN
So why NOT?
Learning from Joe Bower
Friend and fellow educator.Critic of extrinsic motivators in education.
1978-2016
Be HARD on content…SOFT on people
CC Image from Marin https://flic.kr/p/4MamdG
Rethinking Awards: Not Everyone Agrees
“he is just a socialist principal with a feminist agenda”
“…no wonder kids these days are this way… me me me - so entitled”
“So everybody gets an award – and nobody learns anything about the competitive real world”
“this is why the children of today have become the lazy, uncaring adults of tomorrow.”
“You can only get better by playing a better oponent (sic). By takeing (sic) away the motivation you end up with the disgruntled youth of today who sit around and do nothing.”
“This is the same attitude that has principals puinishing (sic) bullying victims rather than the bully.”
How will being here today change what
I do next week?
Rewards
10 years ago, I LOVED using rewards
Are we talking about the same thing when we say “rewards”?
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Intrinsic/Internal
Extrinsic/External
Image: http://flic.kr/p/5PbHjR
Reflecting on rewards…
The ‘Benefits’
of Rewards
A Difficult Job…Cartoon from Martin Doyle http://bit.ly/2l5KRzR
Incentives Work…
… in the short term
CC Image from Judy Baxter https://flic.kr/p/2bjgA
We slowly remove the rewards…
It’s easy…
https://flic.kr/p/dJLHWG
Rewards help us focus on
the positive
I get rewarded twice a month, so why not?
Motivation With Sheldon
Big Bang Theory http://youtu.be/qy_mIEnnlF4
5 Reasons to
Rethink Rewards in Schools
We rob students of intrinsic motivation1
“We cannot motivate others… we can only work to
create the conditions for people to motivate themselves.”
-- Edward Deci and Richard Ryan Image: http://flic.kr/p/8zWLAj
Edward Deci and Richard Ryan
Using rewards to motivate children may indeed control their behavior in some immediate sense,
but they are likely to have negative consequences in terms of the children’s subsequent interest, persistence, and preferences for challenge.
(Deci and Ryan)
Controlling people’s behavior with reward contingencies undermines their intrinsic
motivation…(Deci and Ryan)
Children who were rewarded for doing discrimination-learning tasks learned less well and made more errors than did children who were not
rewarded (Spence & Dunton)
…extrinsic incentives can, by undermining self-perceived altruism, decrease intrinsic motivation to
help others. (Batson)
Research From Sansome et al http://amzn.to/1LGbNIH
Image http://bit.ly/1LGc8v7
The Overjustification EffectShifting the appreciation from task to reward
What about the student who is already doing the right thing?
We give too much credit to rewards and not enough to ourselves
2
Giving credit to
the right
factors
By offering a reward, we are assuming that kids know HOW to do the task… but they WILL NOT do the task.
What if we are wrong?
We teach kids to get good at getting CAUGHT being good.
3
You caught me being good…Can I get my prize now?
Image: http://flic.kr/p/bCtpS
Kids get good at getting caught…
being good.
Kids who grow up being regularly bribed and rewarded grow up overly dependent on
approval and recognition. Deci and Ryan
What’s in it for me?
Is this for marks?
How much is this worth?Is this right?
Did you see me do that?
We lose the chance to teach responsibility to do the right thing…just because it is the RIGHT thing to do.
4
"Extrinsic rewards have a negative impact
[on learning] because they undermine people’s taking
responsibility for motivating and regulating
themselves" Edward Deci
CC Image from Sarah Sosiak
We assign an external value to tasks, behaviour, and learning5
By offering a reward, we are stating that the task is not worth doing... Without a reward.
Reward Inflation: What is this action worth?
Motivation With Dwight
The Office http://youtu.be/G59KY7ek8Rk
The driving question:
How do we create the conditions for students
to motivate themselves?
Strengths & Interests
Tap into Strengths and Interests
Purpose
Where are we going?
Why?
CC Image from BMcIvr https://flic.kr/p/8QSoxF
Students do not want learning made easy, they want it to mean something.
They want to feel something, to be moved by what they learn.
They want to connect deeply with things that matter and they want the chance to make a difference.
State of FLOW.Canadian Education Association
Voice & Choice
CHOICES
Passion Projects
Innovation DaysInquiry
Project-Based Learning
Genius Hour
Outdoor Education
Blended LearningMakerEd
Relationships
Connection is why we are here. We are hardwired to connect with others -- Brene Brown
cc licensed ( BY ND ) flickr photo by Andrew: http://flickr.com/photos/30235101@N06/3344044448/
Can every learner name at least two adults in the building who believe he or she will be a success in life? Judy
Halbert, Linda Kaser
Growth Mindset
Praise effort rather than ability.Use the power of YET.
Growth Through Challenge and Support
Leadership
How can we create opportunities for students to lead?
Criteria & Feedback
Clear Criteria
Do our students know
“what good looks like”?
CC image from Simply CVR https://flic.kr/p/3EPVar
Image: http://flic.kr/p/bBMn78
Talk to your students… Share the WHY
CC Image from S. Mannion https://flic.kr/p/6a8Kr9
A Culture of Reading Without Points, Prizes, or Pizza Parties
EXPECT students to do the right thing... just because it is the right thing to do.
Awards Ceremonies
In Support of Awards
Showcasing excellence
Motivation and Effort
Preparation for the
“Real World”
CC image from K. Decker https://flic.kr/p/9yMfuF
A Lengthy Tradition
CC image from brendangates https://flic.kr/p/aym82o
5 Reasons to
Rethink Awards in Schools
But first…
Rethinking awards…
does NOT mean
awards for
everyone
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You get an award!You get an award!
This is NOT
just about self-
esteem
Awards shiftthe focus from process (learning) to the result (award).1
Demotivating Learning
Inhibiting risk-taking
Defining value and worth based on awards
https://flic.kr/p/pRF9DX
You love me…
Awards are not always about excellence. They are mostly about simply being better than those around you.
2
Creating a false sense of excellence
If awards were so crucial to excellence and success,
why do we not have family awards for best
child? Parent awards?
Staff awards?
Awards encourage a culture of competition and inhibit a culture of collaboration.
3
Success in a
Competitive Culture
The only person motivated by competition is the person who believes he/she has a chance of winning. Rick Lavoie
CC image from Jayneandd https://flic.kr/p/7MhBfD
I am better than you.
Awards prepare our kids for the big bad, scary, competitive real world…
Really???
Kids need to learn how to lose be resilient.
There are two kinds of winning.
Some can only win when others lose. Others seek to win by
helping others succeed.
One of these approaches scales far better than the other.
Seth Godin
Education should not be a zero-sum game.
CC image from S. Tell https://flic.kr/p/xfL6A
Competitions are ALL or NONE
Awards assume that ALL students learn at the same rate and have the same opportunities.
4
Variables affecting achievement (beyond a child’s control):
• Family and home life•Mental health•Date of birth•Genetics•Parent education•Socioeconomics• Income and educational opportunities
• Language•Parent social and cultural capital
Who are awards REALLY for?
Do we want the best for our child or for our child to be the best? These are not often the same thing.
Martin
Seligman
Amazon.com - Original quote from George Carlin
At what age is it acceptable to offer awards?
Awards offer a narrow criteria of success.5
Deciding the WINNER
Do we believe… ALL students have strengths and ALL students can learn?
We know kids are so different – so why are we ok with ranking
them based on narrowly defined criteria?
We ALL have a ‘Jagged Profile’ Todd Rose
Image: Todd Rose, The End of Average
Do your awards ceremonies align with your school vision?
Schools Without Awards
Celebrating Our Strengths
Moving From Honour Roll to Honour All
No awards.No student of the month.
No honour roll.
5 years later.
Pride in Who We Are
HonouringAssemblies
StrengthsTalents
Interests
Ongoing acknowledgement helps everyone
CC image from D. Krebbs https://flic.kr/p/edG2ee
Highlighting growth and excellence
in NEW ways.
Starting the conversation on moving away from awards ceremonies
Driving question:
How do we honour our kids in a way that brings out the best in ALL kids, aligns with our school vision, mission and values, and highlights a broader definition of growth and excellence?
Give Students a CHOICE to Compete
CC image from Kentucky Country Day https://flic.kr/p/kZYg8c
Set the Bar – Use Clear Criteria
With a possibility of multiple winners
Move from a focus on celebrating
THE best…
…to a focus on celebratingPersonal Best
Rick Lavoie
Celebrations of Growth & Learning
CC Image From Tony Baldasaro https://flic.kr/p/cDBuUs
CC Image from Terry Priest https://flic.kr/p/hrxqQ
Find the FirefliesCreate the
conditions for ALL kids to shine.Rachel Macy Stafford
WHY We Need to Rethink Rewards Awards1. We rob students of
intrinsic motivation2. We give too much credit
to rewards and not enough to ourselves.
3. We teach kids to get good at getting caught being good.
4. We lose the chance to teach kids responsibility and independence.
5. We assign an external value to tasks, behaviour, and learning.
1. We shift the focus from process to result.
2. We award for simply being better than those around you.
3. We promote a culture of competition and inhibit a culture of collaboration.
4. We assume that ALL students learn at the same rate and have the same opportunities
5. We offer a narrow criteria of success.
“Rewards and recognition are
important, but as the research has so clearly shown, when rewards
and awards are used as a means of motivating
people, they are likely to backfire.”
Edward Deci
www.chriswejr.com
Change is hard… start the
conversation
Is an awards ceremony at the end of the year the BEST we can do?
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Go ahead. Take a risk.
http://youtu.be/iMzgl0nFj3s
Picture a school…
MotivationHonour
ExcellencePride
Inclusion
