Many of the teachers here are probably affiliated with PBIS schools or something comparable. This is the foundation of the overall behavior strategy giving children school behavior tickets as a reward. These coupons can be redeemed for monthly purchases of goods (snacks, trinkets, etc.) or entered into a lottery to win additional rewards. I am not sure it is effective in the real world.
I view it in two different ways. One: Do I get to award points to students for being quiet, standing in line, according to rules, etc.? That is exactly what they should be doing, isn’t it? Two, it is not a huge deal for me to give out a modest incentive at no expense to me because many of my kids don’t receive any kind of positive reinforcement outside of the classroom.
I still have not managed to form a complete opinion on the whole thing.
I have been having the same thoughts as you about PBIS and the tokens given for expected behaviors. One of our main goals is to encourage students to do the right thing without expecting a reward, which is important to me.
But giving a ticket to a student for doing what is expected seems to undermine that goal. It feels too top-down and controlling for me to fully support it. I genuinely believe that most students want to do the right thing if we teach them how.
Not every student will succeed, just like not all students thrive in the general education curriculum. Some students, especially those in tier 2 or tier 3, might need the tickets or rewards to start learning the behavior, but I think most students can and will learn it without rewards if we teach them properly.
So what other options can you suggest for the kids that don’t want to, but have to?
The article does not explain more about the way teachers use stickers. At least, not the way I have seen them used and have used them myself.
It is simply a way to reinforce good behavior and praise. It is not like there is a chart on the board with a list of good behaviors and their going rate in stickers.
This article for sure has nothing to do with education.
This is a good article that emphasizes how crucial it is to use reinforcement sparingly and to have a clear plan in place for tapering it out.
I teach in the Autism Program. Most of the pupils in my class require instruction in social and intrinsic drive. Some people are simply too difficult to teach, and they will always need an external incentive structure to behave in a way that is acceptable and safe in society.
If the parents established reward systems that used social rewards rather than material ones, like spending a Saturday afternoon with Mom or having a family movie night, it would be interesting to see if that made a difference.
In normal setups, when a kid responds with something like “What will you give me for it,” that is enough evidence that the reinforcement has been presented as a bribe rather than a motivating reinforcer.
Thanks for the great contribution, but what is the difference between a motivating reinforcer and a bribe? Because the two confuse a tonne of people including me.
I will try to define them as follows:
- Bribe - A one-time deal. If you do this right now I will give you this.
- Incentive - A planned conditional reward. Every time you do that, I promise to give you this.
- Reinforcer - Unexpected reward after the behavior.
For shaping the behavior of students, reinforcer is by far the best. It builds internal motivation. Bribes encourage people to hold out doing something until a bribe is offered, and incentives diminish internal motivation.
If I may add my opinion, bribes are occasional rewards and not systemic. On the other hand, the incentives in, say, almost every elementary school classroom in America, are systemic, laid out for students to understand at the beginning of the year, with students knowing the incentives are always available. To me, a bribe tends to be an unexpected incentive for a child.
Sticker charts are a popular tool for encouraging good behavior in children, but they come with potential disadvantages. The disadvantages include:
- Short-term focus: Sticker charts can sometimes promote short-term compliance rather than long-term behavior change. Children might behave well just to earn a sticker, rather than understanding the intrinsic value of good behavior.
- External motivation: Relying on external rewards like stickers can undermine intrinsic motivation. Children might become dependent on rewards and may not learn to appreciate the inherent benefits of good behavior.
- Inequality and competition: Sticker charts can create a sense of competition among children, leading to feelings of inadequacy or resentment if some children earn more stickers than others.
- Inconsistency and subjectivity: The effectiveness of sticker charts can be compromised if the criteria for earning stickers are not clear or consistently applied. This can lead to confusion and frustration for children.
- Potential for manipulation: Some children might try to manipulate the system to earn more stickers, which can undermine the purpose of the chart.