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Substitute Teacher Trainer says Use Rewards, Not Punishment
By Teachers.Net News Desk
Jessica Smith – Substitute Teacher Trainer at STEDI.org says, “Rewards build compliance and cooperation.”
In a study released by researchers from Harvard University in September 2009, the researchers state:
“Rewards go further than punishment in building human cooperation and benefiting the common good.”
Dr. Glenn Latham, a world-renowned researcher in human behavior, would probably agree with the researcher’s comments. In Dr. Latham’s 35 years of research, he found that strengthening desirable behavior through positive reinforcement does more to make a classroom favorable to learning than any other skill.
Another interesting aspect of this research is when both punishment and rewards are offered, rewards lead to better outcomes for the group. One of those better outcomes of rewarding instead of punishing is that people are more willing to contribute to the common good. This is essential knowledge for teachers because educators need to build a positive, risk-free environment for students and if educators use rewards as opposed to punishments students have a greater likelihood of also contributing to the positive environment.
Leading author and post doctoral researcher at Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, David Rand says, “Rewards can change individuals’ behavior and encourage cooperation without the destructive negative consequences that come with punishment.” [To view more information about the study, visit Harvard Gazette: Building human cooperation: Carrots work better.]
“Sometimes it is argued that it is easier to punish people than to reward them,” the researchers write. “We think this is not the case. Life is full of situations where we can help others. These sorts of productive interactions are the building blocks of our society and
should not be disregarded.”
In my opinion, these studies confirm what I’ve come to believe that if teachers want student compliance and cooperation, the best way to achieve it is through rewarding students for appropriate behavior rather than punishing them for inappropriate behavior. Part of being a prepared and professional teacher is being ready to reward and motivate students. Some examples of rewards include: teacher attention, smiling, nodding, verbal praise, tickets, points, or stickers.
