Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A'S, Praise, and Other Bribes [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

A+'s, Incentive Pay, A Prize If You Are Good, Star Child Bumper Stickers, we have all been exposed to the rewards listed above. We have been enticed by our parents, teachers, employers and friends with "If you do this I'll do that" bargains. Bribery seems to have become the motivational force behind all the decisions we make as a society. Unfortunately, we do not see it as bribery when it is hidden under the cloak of rewards. Or so this is the position assumed by Alphie Kohn author of Punished by Rewards; The Trouble with Gold Stars Incentive Plans, A+'s Praise and Other Bribes. Mr. Kohn introduces the thought of rewards as bribery in the first part of his book. He breaks down everyday activities and dissects them into action/rewards situations. He brings these to your attention through at Work (incentive pay), Home (If you take out the garbage, I will take you out to dinner.), School (If you do not talk in class, you will get your name on the board and get to play on the playground today.), and even Religion (If you do "right in this life, when you die you will go to heaven.). He points this out with the hopes of you the reader will begin to recognize these situations in our everyday life. How we perform these rituals on others and how they are performed on us. As you read, slowly but surely you begin to see that to get us motivated, we have become a society that acts on a "What will you do for me?" basis. Considering we are not a society of slackers, this theory must work right? Not according to Kohn. He puts up persuasive arguments to the contrary. Action/Reward may get someone to produce but that this does not make him or her successful. Nor does it help you the teacher or manger because there is no true joy in doing the action. The other person is not doing it for their long-term benefit; they are only doing the action for the short-term reward. He cites Threatened, Watched and Expecting to be evaluated are three of the predominant feelings people who are on the receiving end of the action/reward mentality have. He does an exceptional job bringing the behaviors and how the affect their subject to your attention. The second part of the book is Kohn's recommendation for breaking the circle of behaviors. Basically, he shows the way to get the behaviors and actions you want without the bribery. In the section called Beyond Rewards, he gives us the tools to begin the changes within others and ourselves. He breaks the changes down into the different areas of our lives; Work, Home, and School. And the proper way to correct them slowly but surely. The main theory behind the changing of behaviors is giving back control and choice. Give the people options and let them be able to make their own decisions about the choices facing them. Once we begin to do this, we will see more production but on a less superficial level. The decisions our students, employee and friends will be making them based on a more long term outcome instead of the short term Now! Now! Now! What can I get it out of it now. This is when we will truly begin to see the change we are looking for and have wanted all along. We may not agree with one hundred percent with Kohn however he does make valid points as far as getting peoples behaviors to change. Give them some of the control in what is going on around them and they begin to act as we wanted them to in the first place. Punished by Rewards makes very valid points. If you have an employee, student, family member that just is not responding to the action/reaction method, I recommend reading this book. The tactics listed inside are well worth a try.

Alfie Kohn, in his book Punished by Rewards, uses extensive documentation to support his conclusion that behaviorism is an ineffective tool when dealing with people, whether employees, students, or children. He argues that the using the carrot method of "do this and you'll get that" leads to extrinsic motivation, where the reward is obtained by any means. This leads to less intrinsic motivation and people ultimate lose interest or care about the quality of work, or amount of learning achieved. He seems to want to over-turn the mainstream theory that the only way to achieve success is by one person over-powering another through their authority and bribes. Current beliefs in education include: teacher-centered classrooms, behavior-management programs, and learning achieved through bribes and grades. Mr. Kohn wishes to completely change this method of thinking, and instead create a "3C" classroom, with: collaboration, content, and choice. These classrooms eliminate rewards as the basis for learning, and instead create classrooms where kids want to learn for the sake of knowledge itself. The teachers and students work together, often through cooperative learning groups, to obtain knowledge and understanding relevant and interesting to the students in their day-to-day lives.

I think that Mr. Kohn's theory was well researched, explained, and is believable. He clearly explains the basic problem existing throughout American society with the use of rewards. As a future teacher, thinking about ideas to use in the classroom, I am eager to try his methods with "kids today." I would definitely recommend this book to anyone dealing with kids, who wants them to start caring about each other, or the material they are learning, rather than just doing the work to get the "A" and then forgetting about it. I support his assessment of education strategies today, especially the honors students on the "fast-track" to college. Having just graduated with such a group, I know all about the all-night crams, cheating, copying, and generally doing anything besides learning the material to obtain the grade. Although I agree with the problem he addresses, I wonder if his solution of a school without grades is feasible. He does not require this as part of his "formula for success," merely suggests it. Additionally, I would like to see the argument and supporting evidence against his theory. Obviously, he believes that the mainstream theory does this constantly in the real world, so he need not show the opposite side. However, I was left wondering what studies and success stories the behaviorists might pull out to prove his theory wrong.

Overall, I believe that each teacher needs to create an individual learning environment in his or her classroom. Creating a "perfect mold" for all successful teachers will lead to cookie-cutter teaching. The diversity of American teaching should be as diverse as American society. Teachers need to sort through the various theories and beliefs, and pick out those which best suite their style and ability of teaching. No matter how revolutionary and possibly effective Mr. Kohn's theories might be, some teachers may simply fail when trying to implement them. This does not make them bad teachers, only people with different beliefs on what education is and how to effectively relate learning to students. I, however, hope to find a way to implement Mr. Kohn's ideas in my classroom, because I think that some of them might help me move my students from empty minds to fill with knowledge into excited and active learners.

Rewards are not the source that give children or adults the motivation to perform tasks to the best of their ability, but the feeling of self satisfaction that comes from performing tasks to the best of their ability. Alfie Kohn's point of view differs from mainstream thinking about education. Reward systems used to promote good behavior are an easy way out for teachers. It is easier to reward the good behavior and ignore the bad behavior. Reward systems for homework will only work or last as long as the student desires the reward offered. Kohn also believes students tend to focus more on the reward than the actual task, therefore students not expecting a reward usually perform better. Kohn's point of view on rewarding a child to perform a task makes the child see the task as dreadful since an incentive has to be offered. Kohn also believes that a child may experience negative effects while performing to the best of their ability, when the reward is withheld due to not meeting the reward givers expectations. I loved this book. I would recommend every teacher and parent to read it. It will help you as a teacher and a parent examine your own motivations for using reward systems, and explain the negative effects from it. Kohn's point of view may answer some questions of why our reward systems work for a while and then fail. As teachers and parents we may not be dealing with the real issues of our children in the classroom and at home.