Roland G. Fryer, a racial economist, champions an idea that has been used by parents for decades, if not centuries: bribe students with cash for high (standardized) test scores. Who hasn’t heard of a parent offering $5 per A on a report card? This isn’t a new idea, it’s an old idea with a new twist: schools pay the bribe, instead of parents.
Will bribing students motivate them to perform?
No. The science on this has long been done. It has been demonstrated quite solidly that there are two kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. That’s just a fancy way of saying internally or self-motivated, versus externally or reward motivated. People who are internally motivated work hard and persevere out of an internal desire to succeed, usually just for the good feelings or personal reasons important to the individual. People who are externally motivated are acting to obtain some external reward such as a cash payoff, hugs, praise, promotion or raise.
Both forms of motivation can be effective, but if you want to instill a long-term drive, external motivation won’t get you there. Some studies have shown that when a person is motivated internally and an external reward is then offered for the same action, it can kill the internal motivation.
How this might show up in the classroom is offering to bribe a class with “free time” if they get their work done. Once that teacher is in a position where he or she cannot offer free time, there is a chance that at least a portion of the class will rebel by goofing off.
Can external motivation be effective?
Yes! Here is how I use external and internal motivation as a team to help my challenged students transition from struggling and resistance to school into an eventual “love of learning”.
First, I reframe their experience with me in terms that are fun and valuable to them. So if a student loves video games, then I make sure to have video games available in the classroom (or at home) to use as an external motivator. Then I set a realistic goal and explain that once that goal is reached, we can play video games (together and individually) for a set amount of time. It’s then easy to redirect the student if she gets sidetracked by saying something like, “I like your stories, but we’re using up your video game time.” Over time, the goals become more challenging.
Throughout the entire process, I train them to be internally motivated by directing them to notice how good they feel when they accomplish a task and achieve a goal. I praise them in front of their parents and get the parents involved in rewards and celebrating accomplishments. The idea is to direct their focus on the good feelings that come with being successful. “Dumb” kids and Challenged Kids may not know what it feels like to be successful!
“Dumb” kids and Challenged Kids may not know what it feels like to be successful!
Will this new program of paying students for performance be successful? Maybe. Is it worth trying? Yes. My concern is that the teachers and administrators who are responsible for putting it in action will deliver the same quality of service we’ve come to expect from the government; i.e. crappy.
To turn the immediate benefit into a long term motivator, the soldiers on the front line of America’s War on Education need to build on their students’ successes.
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