I've spent a lot of time thinking about the idea of incentives, and internal vs. external motivation. Does providing incentives make for people that are only externally motivated? Is there even such a thing as internal motivation? I've decided that I don't know the answers! I did, however, find an interesting study scientists have been doing with school children in 4 different cities. And I have also decided that people are not intrinsically internally motivated. Even the smallest child will repeat actions if their parents smile at them. Think of the number of people that toil away at work with the only reward being a paycheck.
The study I read is showing that children who are provided small rewards for specific things (like reading a book and taking a short quiz about it) end up getting better grades and higher test scores. This result doesn't happen as often if children are given larger rewards for something as subjective as better grades. Basically, if you don't teach someone how "to get an A," they don't know how to go about doing it. If you want to read the study, it was in a recent issue of Time magazine.
With all of this in mind I've completely revamped our rewards program. First, it's a random reinforcement program combined with accomplishing set goals. Since Pavlov showed us that random reinforcement is the best way to learn something, I had to involve that component. Second, the rewards are in three tiers: bronze, silver, and gold. Bronze rewards are things like a candy bar, $1, an hour of tech time, one book buck (10 = a new book from the bookstore). Silver rewards include a trip to DQ for ice cream, lunch out, 5 book bucks, and pokemon cards. The gold rewards are the best: a reading party, gift certificates, a new video game. I had the kids give me ideas about what the rewards should be, and they helped me put the drawers together where we're keeping everything.
The set accomplishments are things that if done, they will improve in other areas. For example their math skills will improve if they can become quicker with multiplication, so for every 2 hours per week they spend playing our multiplication game or working with the flashcards they can earn a bronze reward. If they listen to their piano music every night they also get a reward.
The random reinforcement can be from anyone, anytime. It's basically the "catch them being good" idea. If they work through their math without complaining or giving up, learn a new song on the piano, have an extra good piano practice, or write an incredible sentence, they might earn a reward. The possibilities are endless.
Everyone is very excited about the new program, and they've both been working very hard with virtually NO whining! Today I was able to give Zoë a reward because she decided to clean out the garage. She was looking for something to do, and asked me (apparently the resident activities director) for ideas. I was busy doing some bookkeeping, and jokingly told her she could clean the garage. Of course her response was an eyeroll and something about looking for something fun to do. After a while I went outside to find that she had all of the stuff out of the garage, and was actually cleaning it! It was fun to tell her she could pick something out of the bronze drawer for being such a big help! They really are great kids, and I could be much better at making sure they know how much we appreciate them. Before now, I think my ideas about internal motivation have gotten in the way of that.
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