How to motivate
students is a question every teacher has asked themselves at one point in their
career. You want to make learning exciting and find new ways to make students
want to try their very best. Giving your students rewards for doing well sounds
like a simple and effective idea on paper, but there are some things you should
consider first. This guide will take a critical look at the value of motivating
students through a reward system. A reward system works best for younger
students in pre-school through to primary school. Reward systems can still work
in secondary school settings, but rewards need to be appropriate and worth
their while.
The Pros
1)
Good behaviour - When they know
their reward may be at stake, students will be more willing to behave or
conform to the rules set in your classroom.
2) Motivation boost – Students
will show higher interest, participate more, take more responsibility for
meeting deadlines and doing better work with a tangible goal in mind.
3)
Morale boost – When receiving a
reward for their work, students will feel a greater sense of pride in their
achievements and will feel like their efforts are appreciated and noticed
leading to an increase in class morale.
4)
Great self-esteem – Every
success story helps students become more self-confident and more motivated to
achieve another rewarding success.
5)
Homework improvements – The USA’s
National Association of School Psychologists suggest that a reward system
motivates students to not only complete their homework on time but put extra
effort into doing it well.
6)
Better results – Rewarding
students makes them want to push themselves and when implemented properly can
lead to an improvement in the outcomes of student work.
The Cons
All the
above-mentioned pros may make a reward system seem like a guaranteed success.
That’s not always the case. These cons need to be considered and accounted for
to truly get the most out of an effective reward system.
1)
Greed or Dependence – Students
may rely on the reward system too much and refuse to work without a reward
waiting for them. This can cause problems in your class and other classes that
don’t offer a reward system.
2)
Decreased value – This is one
of the biggest threats to a reward system. After a while reward can lose their
novelty or motivational value. There are a number of things that can lead to
this such as giving out too many, weaker students not getting as many and when
goals are too hard to achieve. This balance is what makes or breaks a reward
system as a success or a failure. This TED
talk by Dan Pink on motivation explores this point in great detail.
3)
Missing the point – Students
may accomplish tasks purely for the sake of getting a reward and completely
miss what they need to learn or why what they are doing is important.
4)
Manipulation or control – The
reward system is not a tool to control students or to directly manage their
behaviour. Students can feel manipulated by a reward system and it’s important
for them to know that this is not being used to manipulate only motivate. A bad
reward system might teach students to manipulate others which must be avoided.
5)
Additional pressure – Students
must not feel like they are under more pressure to perform or do things they
are incapable of doing or going at a pace they cannot keep up with. If students
feel they cannot live up to the praise and expectations set by a reward system,
their self-confidence can drastically fall.
6)
Bribery – The line between
bribes and rewards is surprisingly thin. Rewards must not be used to control
students and you as a teacher must never use them to bribe students into
behaving or handing in their work.
Reward Ideas:
Give students a
list of ideas for how the reward system works and what will be working for. This
adds value to the rewards and makes them feel part of the process. Students can
earn tickets which are used in exchange for rewards that can be given out once a
month or at the end of a semester, etc. Here is a list of rewards to consider:
1)
Choosing a game to play
2)
Sit with a friend or change the
seating arrangement
3)
Teach the class their favourite
game
4)
Take a homework pass
5)
Be the teacher’s helper for a
day
6)
Get a custom-made bookmark or
desk decoration
7)
Choose a class job for the week
8)
Take home a class game or book
for the night
9)
Choose who they work with on an
assignment
10)
Rewards for the whole class,
like an extra 5 minutes at lunchtime
When it comes to
teaching there are no simple answers. The way you reach your class and get the
most out of your students depends on them and your teaching strategies. Simply
Education knows this which is why we offer a wide range of CPD courses and
online seminars to all of our registered candidates. Find the education job of
your dreams and hone your skills at the same time with us. Gain access to a
dedicated consultant and our CPD library by registering with us at https://www.simplyeducation.co.uk/register.
