The Practical Impacts of the Failure of Rewards - Essay Example

The Practical Impacts of the Failure of Rewards In Kohn’s work, one of the major points is rewards vs. good values. The author indicates that in the event that the rewards are terminated, the behavior of the individuals in question also changes and mostly in a negative way (Kohn 1). The children that have had the privilege of getting many rewards have also responded by being generous to their peers. This means that rewards are a motivation, and they greatly affect a child’s behavior. The author also focuses on rewards vs achievement by indicating that rewards have been credited for their ability to enhance achievement among children especially the younger ones (Kohn 1). Children that received rewards are more likely to perform as opposed to the ones that rarely get rewards. The author also focuses on the practical impacts of the failure of rewards by indicating that children that do not get rewards are less motivated; thus, fail in tasks assigned (Kohn 1). The children are also not creative and critical in their thinking; they are also not responsible. Dave Blum’s article In Blum’s article, the author indicates that rewards may be used as a source of punishment especially when the parents threaten their children of not rewarding them after failure to do a task (2). Rewards may also damage relationships if there is competition towards achieving a prize especially in the office setting, rewards may ignore my ignore the most appropriate reasons, may discourage risk taking since the end result is certain and may also affect one’s intrinsic motivation since the challenge is faced just for the sake of it (Blum 2-3). With these in mind, the author advocates for collaboration as a way of inspiring motivation, offering meaningful content such as captivating tasks and lastly giving individuals a chance to choose what they want (Blum 3).  Alfie Kohn’s article in relation to Public School Kindergarten of 5- 6 year olds Alfie Kohn’s article has a major correlation with Public School Kindergarten of 5- 6 year olds. In the article the author explains how rewards are a source of good values and even achievement among the learners (Kohn 1). The author also explains how the failure to reward may lead to demotivated learners or even create a classroom of learners that only learn when conditioned towards studying hard simply to get a reward (Kohn 1). From these points, the author is making a good case for the article since he gives both the bad and the positive impacts of rewards on learners. The author bases his arguments on the thoughts of other writers and scholars as referenced in his work. In relation to Public School Kindergarten of 5- 6 year olds, the article may be used to explain how teachers use reward to strengthen the behavior of children since a stop of the rewards has been indicated to retrogress the progress of the learners. Just as Kohn explains, most educators, especially of children between 5-6 years, have used rewards to get results from learners as opposed to inculcating good values in them (1). The rewards, in this case, have both pluses and negatives based on their application in the classroom setting. How rewards are used in Public School Kindergarten of 5- 6 year olds In my Public School Kindergarten classroom of 5- 6 year olds, rewards are used to inculcate good values among learners. The teachers in my school have been seen to use rewards to make sure that the children are attentive in class, and that they are always punctual especially after breaks. Children that come to class early have always been rewarded with sweets and ones that do not sleep or make noise in the course of lessons have been rewarded with the privilege of not queuing while the others queue. This strategy has helped inculcate the value of orderliness and punctuality in the learners. Secondly, rewards have been used to enhance achievement in the 5-6 year old learners in my school. In the course of lessons, learners that get all questions correct have always been rewarded in different ways. At times, the rest of the learners are requested to sing and even clap for the winners. In the assembly meetings, the students are also called upon to stand in front of the rest and are appreciated by the entire group. This form of reward has motivated achievement since learners are dedicated towards being the best in their classroom. Thirdly, the rewards have been used to control the learners of ages 5-6 in my kindergarten. This Kohn terms it as control through seduction, since the kids are lured into maintain silence when teachers are not in the classrooms (1). When there is a general meeting in the entire school, the kids are given sweets to keep silent or even sleep as they wait for the teachers to return. Based on the article, children in my Public School Kindergarten class can learn without rewards by being taught on the general need to work hard even without rewards. For instance after completing different tasks in the classroom, the teacher can tell the learners that they have done well but they need to work harder. This generates a sense of responsibility among them even without giving of sweets or congratulating the successful ones. Conclusions from the readings Rewards have both good and negative implications on the learners. Children can learn without rewards by congratulating the efforts of the child based on their individual ability. This will minimize the chances that only the performers are rewarded or recognized. This approach will also allow the children learn that they have a responsibility of their own actions as what they do will reflect on their end results in their classwork. The authors convinced me since they gave practical examples of how the rewards work concurrently with the behavior displayed. In the event that the children are used to rewards, it is possible that they only perform due to the rewards offered, they will think less and even perform only when rewarded. The use of rewards, therefore, needs to be applied with a lot of considerations. Works Cited Blum, Dave. “Can People Really Be Motivated?” 2003. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. < http://training-modules.com/contributions/pdf/Can_People_Really_Be_Motivated.pdf> Kohn, Alfie. “The Risks of Rewards.” ERIC Digest, Dec.1994. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Read More