Dear Brian: No one seems to realize that this student pay has been tried before, in the 1820's and in the 1960's and 1970's. In both cases they failed and were discontinued. Diane Ravitch has written about this. Lepper & Greene wrote a book on "The Hidden Costs of Reward" in which he cites studies which show that, actually, rewards are counterproductive to most learning goals, from kindergarten to college. The rewards seem to counteract other motivations for most school tasks--the only exception being rote tasks. In my opinion, good teachers don't need to use money to get kids to learn, and bad teachers can't get kids to learn even if they pay them. I have taught from the level of Headstart through college level, and I am sure that this silly behaviorist gambit will also fail, but only after much time and money have been wasted. Those who are ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it. Dr. Ada Kelley Silverstein
Jun. 19 2007 12:19 PM
Score: 0/0
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Comments [1]
Dear Brian:
No one seems to realize that this student pay has been tried before, in the 1820's and in the 1960's and 1970's. In both cases they failed and were discontinued. Diane Ravitch has written about this.
Lepper & Greene wrote a book on "The Hidden Costs of Reward" in which he cites studies which show that, actually, rewards are counterproductive to most learning goals, from kindergarten to college. The rewards seem to counteract other motivations for most school tasks--the only exception being rote tasks.
In my opinion, good teachers don't need to use money to get kids to learn, and bad teachers can't get kids to learn even if they pay them.
I have taught from the level of Headstart through college level, and I am sure that this silly behaviorist gambit will also fail, but only after much time and money have been wasted. Those who are ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it.
Dr. Ada Kelley Silverstein
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.