You might want to read this book:
Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's,
Praise, and Other Bribes (Paperback)
by Alfie Kohn
From Library Journal
Kohn, the author of other iconoclastic books, among them You Know What They
Say: The Truth About Popular Beliefs ( LJ 8/90), here shows how rewards of
all sorts undermine our efforts to teach students, manage workers, and raise
children. Although aimed at a general audience, the book is based on
extensive research and documented with almost 100 pages of notes and
references. The first six review the behaviorist tradition and lay out in a
clear and convincing manner Kohn's central argument that "pop behaviorism"
is dangerously prevalent in our society. Here Kohn discusses why rewards,
including praise, fail to promote lasting behavior change or enhance
performance and frequently make things worse. The remaining six chapters
examine the effect of rewards and alternatives to them in companies,
schools, and the home. Recommended for all types of libraries.
- Mary Chatfield, Angelo State Univ., San Angelo, Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--
From Booklist
The idea that competition and reward are effective motivators forms the
bedrock of our educational, economic, and managerial systems. Kohn, though,
has strongly attacked the belief that competition is healthy and has
documented its negative effects in No Contest: The Case against Competition
(1986). Now he challenges the widely held assumption that incentives lead to
improved quality and increased output in the workplace and in schools. He
notes that the system of rewards and punishment is based on Pavlovian and
Skinnerian behavioral theories, which are supported largely by experiments
with laboratory animals. Kohn derides rewards as bribes and offers instead
the proposition that collaboration (teamwork), content (meaningfulness), and
choice (autonomy) will serve to motivate both students and workers. He
marshals impressive theoretical support and, at the same time, uses humor
disarmingly to argue his case. David Rouse--
Mary Ludwick, Librarian K-5 Elementary
Owen Elementary, The Colony, Texas (near Dallas)
ludwickm@lisd.net (school address)
ludwick@swbell.net (home address)
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