Classroom
Management Resource Page – Shindler – School Climate – PLSI – Teaching
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by JVS
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The following section examines what could be considered the
leading principally extrinsic motivational strategies used
in classrooms historically. These include grades, rewards, praise, punishments,
public recognition and phone calls home. This section also includes
recommendations for applying these strategies in a manner that produces more
beneficial and effective results.
Grades are the most prevalent example of a formal extrinsic
motivator used in schools. Their primary purposes are to 1) provide a concrete
representation of either the completion of a task and/or the quality of a
performance, and 2) act as an incentive for later benefits and opportunities.
As representations of the level of quality performance, grades have only a
symbolic meaning. They only represent something of value (e.g., quality work,
scores on a test, assignments completed, etc.), and have no inherent value.
Therefore, in practice, grades become more effective when they are clearly
related to a meaningful outcome. This is why grading systems that incorporate
more authentic measures such as performance assessment rubrics will be more
motivational than more artificial uses such as a total of the number of correct
responses on a worksheet. Moreover, the way that a grade is derived can help it
become more meaningful and tap into an intrinsic source, rather than being
entirely an extrinsic reinforcement.
Grades also act as an incentive. As students progress in
their academic careers, grades have the effect of creating future
opportunities. These opportunities vary greatly depending on several variables
(e.g., importance to parents and/or schools, scholarship or financial aid
opportunities, etc.). Moreover, as we know, only some students are much more influenced
or even aware of these incentives. As a result, grades are a more motivational
influence on some students than others. A survey of a typical high school will
support the wide discrepancy in how students view the importance of grades. And
those teachers who rely primarily on students’ being motivated by grades are
commonly frustrated with the number of students who are unaffected by the
threat of a poor grade if their performance does not improve. In most cases,
students who see a relationship between their grades and their ability to reach
their personal goals will be most influenced by this source of motivation and
therefore more concerned with the kinds of grades that they receive.
However, students commonly see grades as something “given” to
them by the teacher (the external agent). Too often they view grades as a
representation of their aptitude, ability, or even self-worth rather than the
quality of their investment. While this is rarely the intention of the teacher
for giving the grade, it is common for students to perceive the grade as such.
So, for example, when a student gets a C on a paper they may perceive that
grade as a reflection of themselves or their ability in that subject. Given
this reaction they find themselves in the position that they must respond to
the level of the grade by either accepting
or rejecting it as an accurate
reflection of their ability. While each of these two responses--accepting the
grade as consistent or rejecting it as inconsistent—may appear somewhat different,
they are similar in that neither will result in motivation to do better in the
future. If the student views the C grade as consistent with their academic
self-concept, they will find no need to do any better or adopt any different
strategies in the future. If the student perceives the grade as inconsistent
with their academic self-concept, they will likely feel shame, confusion, and
inadequacy along with resentment toward the teacher. Even if there is a great
deal of intensity to the emotion connected to this second response, if the
cause is viewed externally and the student does not feel that their grade
reflects concrete and constructive feedback, the result will be little
motivation to change future behavior. The result is the all-too-familiar phenomenon
– the student gets used to getting Cs. As we will discuss throughout the
remainder of this chapter and in the next, there are very effective strategies
for helping the student desire excellence. Giving more Cs is not one of them.
Chapter Reflection 7-c: Recall your response to various grades that you were
given as a student. Did they motivate you to do better? Did you view them as
including a personal component (i.e., the teacher either liked or did not like
you)? Did they confirm or conflict with your expectation and academic self
concept?
In Chapter 13, we will discuss how the assessment of
meaningful learning targets that are clear and standing will produce better
student performance as well as higher quality behavior. When students recognize
their grade as resulting from a valid representation of their performance as
assessed in relation to meaningful criteria, they are more likely to experience
the assessment process as meaningful and a process that leads them on a clear
pathway to achievement.
Rewards Such as Tokens, Sticker, Stars and Prizes
Another common extrinsic motivational strategy, used
primarily at the elementary level, is to give tokens and other prizes to
student when they perform a desired behavior. These extrinsic rewards act as
concrete representations that something of “value” has been accomplished.
Therefore they are intended to act as the reinforcement in the process of operant
conditioning. This technique originated in the field of psychology called behaviorism, and is most associated with
one of its pioneers, B.F. Skinner. In operant conditioning, the operant--or
desired behavior that is being conditioned--is reinforced by an extrinsic
reinforcement/reward. In this case the operant is the act of desirable behavior
on the part of the student, and the extrinsic reward is the token or prize.
Incentives can take many forms such as prizes at the end of the week for
successfully performing a task or refraining from an undesirable task, or group
privileges for being first or best, or rewarding students who do well on one
task the chance to opt out of a further task. They concretize the non-verbal
bargain: “If you (the student) do something that the teacher has determined is
good, you will get something that you should like.” In this way, incentives can
be helpful in clarifying what is desirable behavior. At their best they can
help promote good habits and shape more functional patterns of action. For
example, if a mother provides a child an incentive to make the bed every day,
the child may become comfortable with that behavior and continue it throughout
their lifetime, even after the incentive is not longer present. In the case of
healthy behaviors that become intrinsically satisfying once they become habits,
this can lead to positive long-term benefits. However, with any extrinsic
reward, we must question whether the incentive has contributed to the
development of good behavioral patterns, or has just bribed students to do
something that they would not have done without the bribe, and will not do once
the bribe has been removed. And if over time the students do not experience any
internal satisfaction from the behavior being induced, the incentive will
eventually lose its power.
Chapter Reflection 7-d: Recall situations
in which you were given rewards for doing a task others wanted you to do, or to
do better. Were you motivated? What is your association with that task today?
One popular
incentive strategy is that of Preferred
Activity Time (PAT) (Jones, 2000). PAT sets up the bargain that if you (in
this case, the student) apply yourself acceptably to an academic task now, you
will be given the opportunity to do something that you really like to do later. On the surface, this
strategy “works.” That is, it motivates the student to do what it takes to
attain their “preferred activity.” However, as we examine this strategy closer,
we discover that when put into practice, it has two undesirable by-products.
First, while it may work in the short run, like other bribes it will lose its
effect over time. Students will eventually return to their previous level of
motivation for the academic activity. Moreover, they will become accustomed to
the bribe and likely demand it. Second, it will reinforce the principle that
the work that is being done in the academic time is something that is
undesirable. If we bribe students with a preferred activity, we actually
generate the previously-unconsidered question, “preferred to what?” What is the
association that we are creating? Is it that academics are inherently
un-enjoyable? While this strategy is attractive, consider its costs and
long-term effects. And if you feel you need to bribe your students to engage in
learning, you may want to consider the alternative of making the learning
activities in your class engaging and inherently motivating (Chapter 13 will
offer ideas on how to do this).
Chapter Reflection 7–e: Reflect on the following parable:
There was once an old man
who lived by a park and worked the night shift at the factory. During the day
he liked it to be quiet so that he could get some sleep. He lived alone and did
not like children very much. So when the children began to play ball at the
park and make lots of noise, it made him very angry. He tried to ignore the
noise, but it did not work. As he reflected on his dilemma, he was struck by a
cunning plan. The next day, he went to the field and addressed the children. He
told them that he loved the sound of their play, and that he once had children
and it reminded him of them (neither was true, by the way). Then he told them
that if they came to play faithfully, he would pay them each a quarter. The
children were pleased, to say the least, and thought the old man was the
greatest. The next day the old man arrived and paid each child a quarter. He
did the same thing the next day. The children were very happy. The next day he
arrived right on time, but gave the children some bad news. He told them how
much he loved to hear their voices as they played and how it made him so happy
(which was a lie), but he did not have much money and could only pay them a
quarter each. The children were a little disappointed, but agreed to come back
and play for the smaller amount. As promised, he paid them a dime for the next
3 days, but on the next day he again had some bad news. He told the children
that he really hoped that they would come out and play, but that he was out of
money and could no longer pay them. At this the children were very upset. After
a quick conference, the children decided that they could not play if they were
not going to be paid, and they left, never to return. The old man went home and
was able to sleep in peace and quiet that afternoon.
Do you think the story represents a valid reality? Can
you think of an example of this same principle in your own experience?
Adopting a
More Intentional and Effective Approach to the Use of Extrinsic Behavioral
Reinforcement
It is a well-established reality that human behavior can be
conditioned by environmental stimuli. While we can debate the extent to which
one’s behavior is externally conditioned or has its source in more internal
drives, as educators we need to recognize the power of environmental
conditioning. If we examine an effectively managed classroom, we will see a
teacher who understands behavioral principles. That does not mean the teacher
will overuse extrinsic conditioning or even rely on it as a motivational
strategy, but will understand that the forces of behavioral conditioning are
operating continuously.
The starting point to making sense of behavioral conditioning is to
understand that in a conditioning situation there will be something that acts
as a focal event/action/operant and then there is something that happens
afterward to reinforce it. For example if we wished the family dog to
consistently fetch a stick that we throw, we might give the dog a treat each
time he/she brought back the stick, and only
if he/she brought back the stick. In this case the dog learns that when they do
the desired behavior (bringing the stick back), they will be reinforced
(obtaining the doggy treat). Yet, it is important to remember that in one’s
efforts toward behavioral conditioning, especially when it relates to humans,
little or none of the actual conditioning/learning that actually occurs will
necessarily resemble the conditioning/learning that was intended. For example
if we examine most punishments, the intention is to create a disincentive
related to the unwanted action. But what is actually learned is much more
complex and typically takes the form of a disincentive to interact with the
source of the punishment or the creation of a new set of skills to get around
the punishment in the future (we will examine punishments in more detail in
Chapter 10).
When we examine the use of extrinsic rewards in practice, it is
understandable why they are so popular, as well as why some would view their
byproducts as undesirable. In most cases, they work in the short-term to motivate
behavior. But there are several questions that should be asked if one is to use
extrinsic reinforcements for an extended period. They include the following:
If you are attempting to develop a student-centered 1-Style
classroom, the frequent and/or sustained use of extrinsic rewards will be
inherently counterproductive. They will work against the development of such
outcomes as self-responsibility and the inclination to reflect on what will
lead to one’s personal growth and/or the common good of the group –
dispositions that are essential to the 1-Style classroom. On the other hand,
they can be part of a very effective teacher-centered classroom and assist the
teacher attempting a 2-Style approach in his/her effort to promote more
efficient student behavior.
For those who feel compelled to include extrinsic forms of
reinforcement among their motivational strategies, it may be helpful to
consider the following guiding principles for how to use them effectively.
Following these guidelines will not lead to higher levels of
intrinsic motivation, but they will likely be effective in changing behavior in
the short-term. Moreover, they will help reduce the dependency of students on
rewards and make it easier to remove them over time. When we do gradually
remove the reinforcements, we should be left with a substantial amount of new
“learned behavior” and only a minimal amount of “withdrawal” from the students
who have developed a dependency on the reinforcement.
Below are three examples of typical but problematic uses of
extrinsic rewards followed by a more effective strategy in the same situation:
Typical but Problematic:
“If you all do your work, I will give the class a prize on
Friday.” Problems include: the reward is too
far removed in time; the probability that a reward is going to be needed for
every desirable behavior; and when Friday comes, you will likely be in a
difficult spot. It is a certainty that some students will have met their end of
the bargain and others will have not. Do you see the potential problem?
Better Idea:
“You have just spent the entire period focused on a task,
that is the first time you have all been able to do that, I am going to give
you all ___ (extrinsic reward or removal of a negative reinforcer).” This is better because it was random,
immediate, and will cause behavior change. The students know what they did, so
they will likely repeat it. They will not expect it, but will exhibit behavior
that they understand may be reinforced. A lesson was learned, when we ___ (e.g., do our jobs), the teacher will reward
us (recall social frame development in Chapter 2).
Typical but Problematic:
“The group that does the best job of ___ at the end of the
day will get a prize.” Problems
include: this is competitive and there will be some resentful people
eventually; the work is done in anticipation of the prize – the prize is
primary and the purpose of the behavior is secondary; and the reinforcement is
not well connected any particular repeatable behavior (good reinforcement
promotes the repetition of desired behavior).
Better Idea:
“I asked you to put away ____ and take out ______, this
table did it right away without being asked again, so they will get (thing,
time, being first, first choice, etc).”
This is better because: it will change behavior, as the other tables
will be much quicker in the future anticipating that something similar might
happen again; it reinforces your expectations – real learning took place in a
very concrete example; it was immediate and clearly related both in time and
causality; and the focus is on the “expected” behavior first and the reward
second.
Typical but Problematic:
A “token economy” or arrangements where students get points
for certain behaviors and the points are added up for some reward at the end of
a certain period. Problems include: behavior done primarily for
extrinsic rewards. This is essentially paying students to do what they should
be doing and what we want them to love to do for its own sake. We are destroying both of those goals. The
schedule of reinforcement is continuous. Continuous reinforcement leads to a
gradual decrease of motivation. It ends up creating a lose-lose decision, “Do I
increase the reward to maintain the motivation level, or do I slowly watch my
students begin to demand an extrinsic reward for everything and increasingly
avoid behaviors that are not rewarded (including just about everything that we
want them to care about in our class)?”
Better Idea:
If you are committed to the use of a point system:
Chapter Reflection 7-f: Recall a situation in which you were rewarded with
points or prizes for certain behavior. Do you remember if you won, or were
rewarded with prizes? Do you remember what you were asked to do to achieve
those rewards? Which memory is more powerful? What does your memory tell you
about the source of your motivation to perform?
“Giving students extrinsic rewards for engaging in learning tasks makes
the implicit statement that the activity was not worth doing on its own merits.“ - Alfie Kohn (1999)