Rethinking rewards

How does rewarding someone change their behaviour? Perhaps more interestingly, how does it change the behaviour of those around them who might aspire to gain a reward too?

Rewards (and sanctions) are a big part of school life. Rewards might be informal: a well done, a smiley face drawn next to a particularly lovely explanation, a sticker or stamp. They could also be formal: merits, commendations, house points. You might record formal rewards, communicating them home or adding them up to earn further rewards.

Rewarding students is an easy win for teachers – students like getting rewards and on the whole teachers like giving them. But how does rewarding particular students influence the behaviour of those around them? Could we be promoting less desirable behaviours through our rewards?

Some types of rewards can actually lead to negative behaviours within communities

A few years ago, I was involved in the review of recognition for the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) as a representative from secondary and higher education. We were looking at the portfolio of prizes the RSC awards each year to scientists and educators for their work in chemistry and the wider science community. On the review panel was a psychologist, Essi Viding from University College London. She spoke to us about how some types of rewards can actually lead to negative behaviours within communities. If you reward individuals for their work then you may encourage people to be lone wolves, to engage in behaviours that undermine their team, even to potentially lie or bully their way to the top. Rewarding excellence alone can reinforce the view that progress is achieved though genius rather than hard work. You may notice that the RSC prizes have many more team awards in the portfolio now as a result of the work we did.

This made me think about the rewards I give in school – not so much the sparkly stickers and smiley faces, but the formal commendations. In my school, when a student earns a commendation their parents/guardians get an email which tells them the reason for it. What effect do my words have on the student receiving the award and those around them?

Rewards beyond high scores

I used to regularly give commendations for a good score in a test or other piece of work, which I don’t think is unusual among teachers. But thinking about it more carefully made me wonder if that is actually helpful. What if the student who received that commendation hadn’t done much work for the score, got it because of a good memory and a bit of luck? Or maybe last-minute cramming or, even worse, something dishonourable like searching online for a mark scheme or copying from someone else? What if there were a few other students who had worked really hard but didn’t get a top mark, and so didn’t get a commendation? It’s impossible to know who did what in terms of effort and scholarly behaviour when it’s multiplied across 30 students in however many classes we teach a week.

I keep a small notebook in my lab coat pocket and write down good things I can reward with commendations

I haven’t entirely let go of those commendations but I have thought carefully about making sure I formally reward behaviours I want to encourage. I keep a small notebook in my lab coat pocket and write down good things I can reward with commendations. Now, parents or guardians will see commendations for behaviours like ‘being a good lab partner’, ‘acting on feedback’ and ‘making an effort to contribute in class’ in the emails I send them.

I have no evidence that these make a difference, but my instincts and Essi’s words suggest that they probably do. Moreover, I like to imagine a family around the dinner table talking about a commendation received for improved organisation, cooperative practical work or kindness. These are things all students can achieve, and hopefully by rewarding them I might be encouraging others to display that kind of behaviour and make the school a better place.