At the beginning of the school year, I made the conscious choice to opt out of our all-school "Rewards" system. It took standing up and speaking out to our new principal, and saying, "I don't believe in giving these types of extrinsic rewards to students. Especially when someone is going to get left out." It wasn't easy. If it was10 years ago, I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to do this. But, I am established enough in my school, and I have enough of a reputation as a Kindergarten teacher, that I felt I could make this stand.
My principal was very good when we discussed this. She and I have differing opinions on it, still, but that's ok. She didn't push me to conform, and I don't go around talking about how I disagree with it. Except, that is, when other teachers ask why my students aren't included. It's interesting to note that other teachers tell me they wish they could opt out. It's one of the benefits of being at this stage in my career, I suppose.
To be honest, at first, I started to doubt my stance. I was the only one not doing it- what would happen when or if my students found out? What did it say about me as a team player? I struggled with that decision, and I knew, once I talked it out with others, I was right.
In our school we have "Shining Stars" and a "Hard Work Hall of Fame". At the end of each month we have a big all-school assembly to celebrate these honours. These are what I rebelled against. Not because I don't think we should celebrate our students, but because I believe it turns our behaviour into a competition. I believe it enforces the idea that a good deed must be rewarded, and it must be recognized. The reality is, if we are to live and work in a compassionate society, we should be doing kind things because we are kind people, not because they make us feel good or because we will get honoured.
So, we go about our merry way in my class, while others are busy trying to decide who deserves school-wide recognition for picking up after themselves or some such excuse. An interesting thing happened at the beginning of the school year. Our Physical Ed teacher gave one of my students a "shining star" because he was so helpful in class. Now, this is a kid who is always helpful. It's who he is. But as soon as he got that Shining Star, the whole vibe of my room began to change. I pride myself on my class being a community. I pride myself on having students who work together and work toward the common good of the group. But, once this "award" was given, suddenly we had a "Look how great I am! I am a shining star! I should be the line leader, right?" attitude. Then there were the, "Look at me, I am doing nice things too! Give me a shining star!" attitudes. It totally changed whow we were as a group. That was the moment I knew I made the right decision. I couldn't imagine a year of competition in order to get a shining star. That would be one of the worst things I could think of.
That was in the fall. Since then, we have plugged along nicely. We have ignored the Shining Stars, and the Student of the Months, and all school assemblies via google meet, and we have worked together to form a community of friendly, kind, responsible, and respectful students. Here is the result of that:
Everyone who comes into my space:
-comments on the camaraderie of my class. How chill they are as a whole (which, granted, has a lot to do with the individual personalities).
-sees students working together, problem solving together, creating together.
-talks about the feel of the room, the vibe, the joy they have when they come in.
And then the best thing happened: I took my class to music, and as they were all going to their spots, two of them went to the hand sanitizer bottles, and started giving everyone a squirt until everyone had sanitized their hands. Now, I thought this was pretty cool, and my EA said, "They do this every time!" I was proud of them, but thought that was what happened with every class. I thought that might be the routine of the music class. However, the music teacher told me they were the ONLY class in the school to do this. It wasn't common practice for any other class.
That's when I 100% knew that I made the right decision back in the fall to ignore the extrinsic reward system. Because, after all, what is the point of those systems? What are they trying to create? Kind people? Responsible friends? Helpful students? Didn't we just prove that we are that? Why would we need an extrinsic system to strip away our agency, and make us dependent on rewards? That's not what it should be about, but that is always what happens when we give rewards for behaviour that is already expected. As author Alfie Kohn tweeted: Educational psychologist John Nicholls spent a year observing a classroom that featured a rewards-for-good-behavior program called Assertive Discipline (think PBIS or Class Dojo). Whenever the teacher uses it, Nicholls told me, "her inherent intelligence & humanity are defeated." (https://twitter.com/alfiekohn/status/1524354083481661440?s=20&t=HN1NTIncUKag_RrVtHRDYA) Further, in the article Why Rewards are Destroying Your Motivation (https://www.getsupporti.com/post/intrinsic-motivation), Brigitte Granger says, "In the research summarized by Ryan and Deci, studies have found that extrinsic rewards undermine intrinsic motivation. When people expect a reward for performing a behavior, they’re less intrinsically motivated to do it." And that's just it. As soon as we introduce an extrinsic reward, we damage any personal growth, we take away intrinsic motivation, we become less human.
On our way to help form our next generation, let's not lose our humanity in encouraging responsible and respectable behaviour in our classrooms. Let's remain human, and let's give our students that same opportunity. I have a class that works together, that cares about each other, that wants to help. We are a community. We do it because we want to, because that's how society needs to function. Not because we are going to get a reward for it.
