Incentives
There are
a number of management programs that offer incentives to students for
good behavior or work production. These are neither good nor bad. They
do have some real drawbacks.
- They are
usually time intensive - record keeping, passing out tokens or chips,
etc.
- Tangible
rewards often set up a sense of competition among students, so time
and energy is diverted to ãwantingä and ãgettingä rather than focusing
on learning.
- Tickets,
tokens, stickers and points are frequently lost or taken by other students.creating
additional discipline matters.
- Unless
the classroom is small, a few students tend to get more attention and
thus more incentives, while those who are misbehaving tend to ignore
the incentives or to use them as a control issue.
- Incentive
programs sometimes seem like bribes to students. Even at best, they
fail to teach self responsibility and may backfire. Once a student is
rewarded for reading a book, for completing homework, or passing a speed
test, there is a tendency for the next request to be followed with,
ãWhatâs in it for me,ä or ãHow much will I get if I do?ä That is counter
productive, since we are striving to develop life long learners and
underscore and value intrinsic curiosity.
Sample
Incentive Tips
- Get students
involved in record keeping.
- Set up
incentive programs for a limited period of time -- for instance one
month, rather than having them die out through lack of teacher time
and energy.
- Remember
to frame work as the ultimate good and the trinkets or rewards as a
side benefit.
- Try to
maintain a cooperative feeling as the intrinsic backdrop and guard against
competitive exchanges - girls against boys, the bad kid versus the hard
workers, etc.
- Work
from the idea of merit and NEVER use demerits. Taking points or tokens
away destroys the motivation of sensitive students or those who are
just developing work habits.
Sample
Incentive Programs
Tokens
for trade
Tickets
Points |
When
these accumulate, students may "spend" them for white elephants, sports
activities, trinkets, movies, treats |
Marbles
in a jar
Team goal
group points
blue vs. red
jig saw
Group meetings
Stop watch for time on task
"I add ten points to the group total since" |
Points
accumualte through team work or competitions and then the entire class
gains the privilege to engage in music listening, sjports activities,
movies, trats, service projects for the school |
Once you
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