A consideration about school and student rewards and punishments

Citing Kohn (1993), Woolfolk (1993) stated that “rewards are ineffective [when one is dealing with student behaviours and student academic engagement] because when the praise and prizes stop, the behaviors stop too” (Woolfolk, 1998, p. 238).

“Rewards (like punishments) can get people to do what we want : ... share a toy, read a book…But they rarely produce effects that survive the rewards themselves … They do not create an enduring commitment to a set of values or to learning; they merely and temporarily, change what we do” (Kohn, 1993, p. 784, in Woolfolk, 1998, p. 238).

The problem with extrinsic rewards is that “rewarding students for learning actually makes them less interested in the material” (Woolfolk, 1998, p. 238, citing Kohn, 1993). If children begin to think about learning as a way of getting a sticker, a stamp, a certificate a gold star, this will “turn learning from an end to a means” (Woolfolk, 1998, p. 238); this, in turn will lead children to think of learning as being “something that must be gotten through to receive [a] reward” (p. 238) rather than thinking of learning as being an end-in-itself. 

The thought and assertion that “learning is its exceeding great reward” was voiced centuries ago by William Hazlitt (1778-1830). Hazlitt, an English essayist, literary critic, grammarian and philosopher, offered insights and directives on what should be considered when one is educating children. 

For Hazlitt, the education process would have, as one of its central aims, the goal of creating the next generation of well-educated and reasonable thinking adults who would be able to influence society in a positive and all-encompassing manner for the benefit of everyone.

Primary School Free Time Considerations

Should free time be offered? Is free time a reward? Philosophically, free time provides students with the opportunity to enter and engage “within their own world” through the benefits of self-directed play and self-directed learning. This is also a good opportunity for the teacher to observe the classroom’s natural social dynamics during the self-directed play setting (Huizinga, 1955).

Self-directed play

Self-directed play is a self-motivated, self-rewarding activity that has no external rewards or goals (Huizinga, 1955). Self-directed play is about providing opportunities for students to learn more about themselves, their peers, their social world and giving students “some release time” from the rigours of their regulated social world and academic requirements. 

Free time is about providing students with the chance to step into a world of their own choosing and their own creation. The free time of self-directed play is also a beneficial time for the teacher to observe the social dynamics of the students in their classroom environment. All manner of personal and educational opportunities occurs during self-directed play (Huizinga, 1955).

Self-directed play is about giving the students:

• The opportunity to create their own rules.
• The opportunity to share their rules or to create rules in the company of others.
• The opportunity to have a sense of freedom.
• The opportunity to express and share their thoughts and their emotions freely with their peers.
• The opportunity for self-creation or to create with others.
• Providing an environment for the students to learn more about themselves, their peers, and their social world.
• Allowing time for those students who seek personal time for self-reflection and positive social disengagement (i.e. for those students who actually do wish to be alone) (Huizinga, 1955).

About

I hold the position of Adjunct Lecturer School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University. Under the supervision of Professor Ken Purnell. My thesis focussed on the success of my pioneering form of acquired brain injury rehabilitation therapy.

The therapy is now referred to as CBBMMT (Complex Brain-Based Multi-Movement Therapy). My thesis has also added two new descriptors into the lexicon of human biology; these are neurofluidity and hólos.

Neurofluidity are the neurological processes that lead to the condition of brain plasticity. Hólos is a descriptor which, for the first time in history (to the best of my research and understanding), provides a category which unifies the brain and the body, with one word. 

Prior to this holistic biological unification, the brain and the body had always been referred to as two separate entities. Hólos derives from the Greek: ?λο? ? ? ólos. The English word holistic is derived from hólos. Holistic and hólos offer the same classification. Holistic and hólos incorporate the concept of holism.

I am the author of Responsibility Theory? (A new consideration in neuroeducation). A brain-based immersive systematic self-talk sequence learning program. The purpose of which is to empower teachers and inspire and transform students. Haibo He (2011, p. 190) emphasises that “sequence learning is presumably among one of the most important components of human intelligence.” 

Responsibility Theory? presents ten powerful precepts which provides teachers, educators, and parents with additional linguistic focussed pedagogical and social tools, that fits in with any teaching style, any classroom behaviour management program, and all school rules. The Responsibility Theory? program also fits in with all parental home rules.

I have presented Responsibility Theory? at international and national Australian Conferences. The HICE (Hawaiian International Conference on Education) 2018. Edu-TECH 2018 FutureSchools Conference (Melbourne) and the Edu-TECH 2018 Sydney Conference. In addition to this I presented at the 2019 IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii (IICE Hawaii), and the 2019 HICE Conference in Hawaii. I have been asked to present at the 2019 Edu-TECH Future Schools Conference in Melbourne.

What would your response be if you witnessed, on a daily basis, every day of a school year, year-in-year out, where there were hundreds of Primary school children – during the course of a week – every week - continually running up to you, every day,shouting with glee, “Sir, Sir, I’ve got the power!” Or, “Sir, Sir, I love school.” Or “Miss, Miss, I love maths!” This is what happened after I began to apply my PhD brain-based immersive self-talk sequence learning classroom behaviour management program.

Once teachers are informed about what Responsibility Theory? is and how it should be applied, the next stage is for the teachers, in accordance with their own personality and teaching styles, to begin introducing the program to their students. 

As part of this process the students are informed by their teacher that each student can immediately use this knowledge and power to take control of their thinking and behaviour, which will help them to constructively advance their well-being, their social skills and academic potential; not only for today, but forever.

I am the initiator of NeuroNumeracy?, an intensive self-motivating and transformative neuroscience brain-based numeracy learning program for children, the purpose of which is to enhance their skills, knowledge and understanding of the four operations in mathematics.

In addition to my cognitive neuroscience PhD, I have completed three Master of Education degrees (one in Education; one in Guidance and Counselling; and one in Leadership and Management). I have also completed two Bachelor degrees (Physical Education and Psychology) and five Post-Graduate awards (Education; Sports Science; Exercise and the Sports Sciences; Health Counselling; and Communication Studies).

I am a traditional Goju Karate martial arts practitioner and a former sports karate Australian champion. “Every day one kata”.