Re: [LM_NET] Rewards "and motivating learners"

[Paula Yohe <paula_yohe@YAHOO.COM>]

And as you said I could not resist  the humor either -- anything taken to extremes 
isn't good -- but........

I guess we need to tell McDonald's -- car dealerships --- Walmart -- etc. and etc. 
to stop rewarding good employees -- -- they should be intrinsically motivated ---- 
let's forget the Employee of the Month - STar Cashier -- etc.

and i guess when some folks do a good job -- they shouldn't get a bonus -- another 
extrinsic motivator

and sales persons shouldn/t be paid a commission for hard work --- (extrinsic 
motivation)

how about the football team - baseball team --- they shouldn't be given SuperBowl 
rings -- another extrinsic motivator ---

now of course someone is going to tell me -- reading and children are different ---
but the irony of it all is rather amusing...


paula




"Deb B." <jbecke1@TWCNY.RR.COM> wrote:
I just had to reply as the last response is too funny!!! (And I love a bit
of humor/irony to lighten such an important topic.) Just goes to show,
nothing is as clear-cut as we'd like it to be. Actually I haven't followed
the thread very closely, but I hope we have made the distinction of rewards
as extrinsic motivators, which can work in the short term, but can also have
negatives attached to them, and reaching the ultimate goal, intrinsic
motivation, "getting kids intrinsically motivated to read and learn" (which
extrinsic motivators can negatively effect). Intrinsic motivation holds its
own rewards. To quote Steven Covey on motivation, "Motivation is a fire from
within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it
will burn very briefly." (So though it may burn briefly, it may just be the
spark to start the fire???)

While, I'm not "pro" on extrinsic rewards, I understand that they certainly
have impact on me and others; which explains while I'll take a class to help
work up the pay-scale this summer ;-) I've always thought it's important to
look at the theory behind why or why not awards will work when deciding to
use them. (My intrinsic motivation here is to "better myself", but the
extrinsic reward of increased pay has some definite pluses for my growing
family and is a main push behind my decision as well.)

A couple of Eric Digests on the topic of what motivates human behavior
toward learning, and specifically how we can develop more motivating lessons
- but speak to the theory behind motivation
-http://www.marilynarnone.com/eric_digest_curiosity.htm

http://www.ils.unc.edu/daniel/214/MotivationSmall.html

Here is another site on motivation that provokes some thinking
http://www.geocities.com/lisajunedenton/why.html , entitled "Why Motivate
the Library Media Center"

Another site that has been personally developed by an ESL teacher entitled
"Affect in Language Learning"
http://www.geocities.com/lisajunedenton/why.html is quite extensive. See
section 5 and "Motivation to Learn" chart. The author also has a great quote
there in section 5 of Oxford and Shearin, 1994 " "Without knowing where the
roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those roots?" Section 6
refers to a wide variety of theories behind motivations, including
behavioral, cognitive, achievement, psychoanalytical, social, transpersonal
and humanistic.

Though I haven't read the Kohn book, I was happy to read your article today
Mr. Johnson that you posted a link to. One question I would ask is if Mr.
Kohn addresses is motivating students until they have "the flow" of reading?
My personal experience as both a student and a teacher, is that "learning to
read" itself is not always enjoyable and perhaps some kids need to be pulled
through/externally motivated until they have "flow". My memory harkens back
to days of olde, when sitting in class and students who didn't have "flow"
were called on to read aloud (a practice now often discontinued, with good
reason). I think all of us in the classroom felt the pain as the reader
stumbled through decoding, and our minds wandered to green fields outside
the window instead of listening... and I don't think anyone was fully
engaged in the act of comprehension because the teacher was reading the
questions out of the teacher edition....

So, my question would be, do rewards have their place with struggling
readers, until they can get to the enjoyable part, "flow", and reading for
it's intrinsic rewards on their own?

Off to get some house work done, or my reward for staying on the computer
will not outweigh the negative consequences of a messy house.

And where did I get the motivation to post on LM-Net this a.m., when I am
usually just a reader? Someone tapped into both my need for humor (*a
biggie* for me, thank you Jeanna) and a topic that speaks to my interests
and heart! Now if only we can do that for all our patrons!!!

Debbie Becker
Library Media Specialist
North Broad Elementary
Oneida, New York
jbecke1@twcny.rr.com


>I hope I don't step on toes, but I just heard Kohn speak at the Mid-south
conference at UAB in Birmingham. I found him very interesting, but it was
a
bit ironic that a man who talked for an hour about how we shouldn't reward
children charged a HUGE amount to tell us that...seems he likes being
rewarded.
:-) I know, I know...he was being paid, NOT rewarded... but that's a thin
line when some kids think reading is work! LOL
Not an advocate of rewards myself, but I have done it in the past when a
principal told me to do it.


Jeanna Dennis, LMS
Valley Elementary School
Pelham, Al
simon827@aol.com
Give the gift of life: Give Blood!
www.taylorwatts.org

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Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center
Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com
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