“Rewards are not merely ineffective over the long haul but actually counter-productive.” Alfie Kohn’s A lot of fat kids who don’t like to read, discusses how children rewarded for reading are likely to have a greater interest in the reward, rather than the actual reading. A major topic in the article is Pizza Hut’s program called “Book it!” which rewards children for reading with pizza. I personally remember a similar bribe my elementary school used to “motivate” students to read (the class that collectively read the most in a month won a party). I’m interested to hear of other extrinsic motivators used in schools. Do you think this in fact had an effect on your interest, or lack of interest, in reading?
8 comments:
In my elementary school, we had a program called "Book Bank". To be able to participate in that month's event, you had to read 500 pages. You recorded your books on a sheet and had to have your parent sign it. When I was younger, I loved it. They would also post the top three readers of each grade. It encouraged me to read so that I could achieve the goal. I went to a school where we wore uniforms, so it was a big deal to be able to wear jeans. However, as I got older, less and less people participated. I remember writing down books that I hadn't actually finished, just to get the jean day or ice cream. So I think that reading for incentives works when you're younger; but as you get older, it becomes, like the author said, all for the prize.
I agree with the Kohn article in the sense that reading incentives aren't good for kids. I work at Pizza Hut back home, so I see how the Book It program really affects the students in my community. They usually come in really excited that they are getting free pizza. If I ask them about the book they read they usually don't remember much and seem more excited about the pizza. There have been many occasions where the kids didn't even remember the title of the book they had just read let alone what it was about.
I think programs like book it are good for kids who need an extra little nudge in getting excited to read. However it can not be the only motivation the children recieve. They need to hear it from peers, parents, and teachers! I know it helped some of the kids in my classes, but if they do this...maybe they'll end up finding books that they are interested in and branch off from there!
Let's continue our class conversation here! (Sorry we ran out of time.)
My favorite part of the article was when Kohn makes the point that our job should be to figure out what motivates kids--the types of books, activities, etc. that they find engaging. I know that, as a teacher, it is more work (and more "rewarding") to get to know kids and books well enough to help make those matches than it is to put stickers up on a chart...
Any thoughts?
In elementary school the only time that we got rewarded for reading was during march, when the whole school did march madness. everynight you were supposed to read for 15 min then your parent would sign a basketball and at the end of the month how ever many basketballs you turned in was how many ping pong balls you got to shoot into a garbage can during library. who ever one got a prize. This incentive did get me to read but only during the time that march madeness was going on. once it was done so was I with reading. I did not really enjoy reading until I was in high school and could read whatever I wanted to for enjoyment!
this article was so interesting and so true.
As a kid I looked forward to summer when my local library would put on a summer reading club. After so many books you read, you get a reward from of some sort. This process got me to read and I was so pumped about it.
BUT
after it ended, I went back to playing outside and doing activities with no book in sight.
Personally I think that rewards are okay to a minimum and dont affect a child's head in thinking that every time they do something they will get rewarded for it.
-Emily Francis
There was an incentive program at my elementary school also. I do remember doing "Book Its" for Pizza Hut which I enjoyed. My brother and sister would do it also because our parents encouraged us to (cheap dinner. hah) But I think what I liked the most was the incentive programs the school librarian did. The top reader in the class would get to choose a prize at the end of the week (usually there were books to choose from). I was always the top reader and would chose the books for my prize which led me to continue reading more. I believe incentive programs can be ideal in moderation.
Especially for those who have participated in these incentive programs, did they give everyone an equal opportunity to participate? In other words, did they reward students who were already good readers more than those who struggled?
I'm thinking about my own experience as a struggling reader and how hurt I was when I never measured up... (I certainly never got to go to the ice cream parties that they held for memorizing multiplication tables. Since I knew I would never win, I basically stopped even trying to learn my facts beyond the "3s".)
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