One of the biggest problems at East High School is attendance. This year's administration has decided to tackle the problem by participating in a contest sponsored by MTV. The contest is called "Get Schooled". The contest began in September and will end in November. We are the only school from Iowa in the contest. The winning school will receive a special concert from a famous singer/rapper. The administration has also received donations and grant money to reward individual students attending all of their classes throughout the day. Students at East High School are excited about the opportunity to win prizes and have a guest celebrity perform at our school. As a result of the contest and the rewards, the attendance percentage has slightly increased since we began the contest in September.
Although the contest seems to have a small effect on attendance, I have mixed feelings about this contest and giving students rewards. Should we reward students for doings things they are suppose to do? What happens when the contest ends and grant and donation money runout? Will students do what is right only when receiving a reward? I think there can be a real danger in rewarding student for doing what is right, but at the same time we are trying to change behaviors. I realize what has been done in the past has not necessarily worked and we have to be willing to use some innovation to reach our students. At the same time, we do not want students growing up thinking and feeling they are entitled to certain rights and privileges. Life is tough and often people do not feel rewarded for what they do. In most cases, rewards are not immediate and the payoff of hard work goes unnoticed. Are we giving our kids a false sense of reality?
I agree that rewarding students for what they should already be doing is questionable, but at the same time are they getting extra lessons from it that could become internalized. For example, if a student attends class to try for a concert, but realizes that they are doing better in school due to attendance it could change behavior. I would be interested in an analysis of that effect somehow in the school. Rewarding students for everything is a dangerous practice, but at the same time to encourage small changes in behavior could be a stimuli to greater rewards down the road.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this will make a difference in some students' perceptions of school by taking some sort of positives away from the experience. What if your school actually won? That could do amazing things for the school's culture and student pride.
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