Punished by Rewards
The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s,
Praise, and Other Bribes
Alfie Kohn---1993
Five Reasons Rewards Fail
1.) Rewards Punish
 Both rewards and punishment are used to gain a certain type of behavior.
 Using rewards or punishment in the long term, both require the reward or
punishment to be raised in order to continue to have people act the way we
want.
 Rewards are just as controlling as punishment. If a person feels controlled
during an experience they will come to remember or view this experience
as unpleasurable despite the reward given.
 Catching someone doing something good is still catching someone.
2.) Rewards Rupture Relationships
 Rewards encourage individual thought and not collaboration, which
produces greater learning.
 Rewards create jealously, not community.
 They also bring about competition, which in turn creates anxiety that
interferes with performance.
 The reward giver is the one with the power.
 The teacher is someone to impress. Therefore, students are less likely to
show the teacher mistakes and ask for assistance.
3.) Rewards Ignore Reasons
 The behavior modifier does not ask why a student has not turned in his or
her homework, or why a child is biting. Behaviors are simply dealt with as
they are.
 The many underlying factors of behavior such as home environment or
learning impairments can be ignored in a rewards system.
4.) Rewards Discourage Risk Taking
 Rewards encourage us to focus on the narrow or defined aspects of a task.
 Students in programs like Book It are more likely to chose short simply
books to read in order to increase their quantity of books read.
 Rewards (grades) cause school to be about doing what is necessary and not
about playing with ideas or taking intellectual risks.
5.) Rewards Cut the Interest Rate
 An elderly gentleman is taunted by a group of ten year olds who insult him
as they pass by his house on the way home from school everyday. The old
man came up with a way to end the rude comments about his baldhead
and sagging stomach. On Monday afternoon he met them on his lawn as
they passed by. He said, “Anyone who comes by tomorrow to insult me
will receive a dollar. So on Tuesday the children showed up even earlier to
harass the old man. True to his word he gave them a dollar. Then he said,
“If you come by tomorrow and do the same thing I will give you 25 cents.”
So on Wednesday the same thing happened. He told them that from now
on he would only pay a penny to be insulted. The kids decided that a
penny was not worth the effort they were putting in and never came back
again.
Preparation H
Grading has created “grade grubbers.” Students are so preoccupied with
getting a good grade they forget that they are in school to learn. Alfie talks about
students focusing their entire childhood on getting into Harvard, (what Alfie calls
preparation H). Striving for the best grade does not end once students enter
college, or even after they graduate. There is always the next set of rewards to
work towards. When he presented this information to students a prestigious
prep school, one student asked, “But what else is there?” Alfie says it was not a
question to be answered.
Solutions
With all this criticism of reward systems, what is Alfie Kohn’s solution to the
system of rewards so deeply rooted in our society? Well, he can’t just give one
answer. He says, “I have found it frustrating and difficult to answer for several
reasons.” (179) The alternative to rewards depends on who you are talking about,
employees, students, or one’s own children. We must also consider the cause of
the problem we are trying to correct and our objective trying to be attained.
Unlike pop-behaviorism, Alfie says, there is not one answer to fit all situations.
Instead he gives different goals for employers, teachers, and parents. Below are
some tips for teachers.
Alfie Kohn’s first suggestion to get students “hooked on learning” is to
remover rewards all together. Children do not need stickers or candy to get them
excited about learning because they are naturally curious. Teachers need to set
up an environment that is interesting with many authentic choices. Removing
rewards from schools will not be an easy task considering so many students are
addicted to A’s or stickers. Students must be involved in the change over and
guided by the teacher to see reasons for which people learn.
Given Alfie Kohn’s distaste for rewards and seeing as how grades are a type of
reward, he suggests getting rid of our current grading systems because grades
undermine intrinsic motivation. Instead, grades should be replaced with
comments that tell a student what he or she did well and what he or she needs to
work on. Another reason to do away with grades is that a classroom that feels
safe to students is one in which they are free to admit when they do not
understand something and are able to ask for questions. The teacher is more of a
collaborator than judge.
If one must grade students’ work, there are 7 guidelines for doing so.
1. Limit the number of assignments graded.
2. Limit the number of gradations in the grading scale. Go from a A/B/C/D
scale to a check, check plus, check minus scale.
3. Or, just give A’s and Incomplete. Work is not completed until a student
has mastered the skill given on an assignment. Once it is mastered then
the student should receive an A.
4. Never grade while students are still learning material.
5. Never grade for effort. This actually reduces the effort put into an
assignment.
6. Never grade on a curve. This puts students up against one another and
artificially limits the number of successes available.
7. Bring students in on their own evaluation.
Alfie Kohn supports Bruner’s idea of discovery learning. He has five suggestions
for supporting discovery learning.
1. Allow for active learning. Hands on activities are more effective learning
tools.
2. State the reason why students are learning something. If a lesson is
valuable tell the students why it is so.
3. Elicit their curiosity.
4. Set an example. A teacher must let students hear him or her talk about
what they get excited about or enjoy learning.
5. Welcome mistakes.
Alfie Kohn’s 3 C’s
Collaboration- Learning together
Content- Things worth knowing
Choice- Autonomy in the classroom
These three things go together to make up an Alfie Kohn classroom with the good
signs given below.
What to Look For in a Classroom
From The Schools Our Children Deserve
GOOD SIGNS
FURNITURE
Chairs around tables to
facilitate interaction
Comfortable areas for
learning, including
multiple "activity
POSSIBLE REASONS
TO WORRY
Chairs all facing forward
or (even worse) desks in
rows
centers"
Open space for
gathering
ON THE
WALLS
Covered with students’
projects
Nothing
Commercial posters
Evidence of student
collaboration
Signs, exhibits, or lists
obviously created by
students rather than by
the teacher
Information about, and
personal mementos of,
the people who spend
time together in this
classroom
Students’ assignments
displayed, but they are
(a) suspiciously flawless,
(b) only from "the best"
students, or (c) virtually
all alike
List of rules created by
an adult and/or list of
punitive consequences
for misbehavior
Sticker (or star) chart -or other evidence that
students are rewarded
or ranked
STUDENTS’
FACES
Eager, engaged
Blank, bored
SOUNDS
Frequent hum of activity
and ideas being
exchanged
Frequent periods of
silence
The teacher’s voice is
the loudest or most
often heard
LOCATION
OF TEACHER
Typically working with
students so it takes a
few seconds to find her
Typically front and
center
TEACHER’S
VOICE
Respectful, genuine,
warm
Controlling and
imperious
Condescending and
saccharine-sweet
STUDENTS’
REACTION
TO VISITOR
Welcoming; eager to
explain or demonstrate
what they’re doing or to
Either unresponsive or
hoping to be distracted
from what they’re doing
use visitor as a resource
CLASS
Students often address
DISCUSSION one another directly
Emphasis on thoughtful
exploration of
complicated issues
Students ask questions
at least as often the
teacher does
All exchanges involve
(or are directed by) the
teacher; students wait
to be called on
Emphasis on facts and
right answers
Students race to be first
to answer teacher’s
"Who can tell me…?"
queries
STUFF
Room overflowing with
good books, art
supplies, animals and
plants, science
apparatus; "sense of
purposeful clutter"
Textbooks, worksheets,
and other packaged
instructional materials
predominate; sense of
enforced orderliness
TASKS
Different activities often
take place
simultaneously
All students usually
doing the same thing
Activities frequently
completed by pairs or
groups of students
AROUND
THE SCHOOL
Appealing atmosphere:
a place where people
would want to spend
time
When students aren’t
listening to the teacher,
they’re working alone
Stark, institutional feel
Awards, trophies, and
prizes displayed,
suggesting an emphasis
Students’ projects fill the on triumph rather than
hallways
community
Library well-stocked and
comfortable
Bathrooms in good
condition
Faculty lounge warm
and inviting
Office staff welcoming
toward visitors and
students
Students helping in
lunchroom, library, and
with other school
functions