Real, Long-term Rewards

Dr. Wendy Ghiora

May 8, 2014 – Posting #123

 

In, Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn’s latest book, the author points out the futility of depending on rewards in order to get production from workers and students alike.

One of the basic strategies used to get children and workers to comply with orders or requests, in simple terms is:  Do this and you'll get that. We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people; in a way akin to training the family pet.

"Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get rewards."

Kohn explains that praise can be used as a reward, if it is done with these specific steps in mind:

1.      Don’t praise people, only what people do.

For example, instead of saying, “You are so smart,” or “You are so talented,” say “I can tell you worked really hard on this assignment.”

2.      Make praise as specific as possible.

Focus on the specific parts of the assignment that the student performed well.

3.      Avoid phony praise.

Students and workers can tell the difference between genuine praise and phony praise, and they react accordingly.

4.      Avoid praise that sets up a competition.

Comparing students or workers to each other or talking about the “best in the class,” creates a situation that few students want to enter.  If only one student can be the best in the class, everyone else loses.

The best reward or motivation is the intrinsic kind.  We can promote intrinsic motivation in the classroom and the workplace by encouraging autonomy and setting up structured situations where students and workers can show us their competence and individual skills.  Giving them meaningful choices, designed around subjects you have found to be interesting and important to them individually, will lead to intrinsic motivation.  Intrinsic motivation definitely trumps external motivation, as this is the key to creating life-long learners.  Seeing the first green sprouts from a seed you have planted; or witnessing the joy of all the pieces of the puzzle coming together is truly a reward with no equal.