Some Wonder if Cash for Good Test Scores Is the Wrong Kind of Lesson
If it is up to New York City they should.
School administration wants to give 500.00 to children who pass the state standardized test.
Ah! But only to the low income kids. The kids from middle class families would not qualify.
Before you start nodding your head that this seems like a reasonable approach-after all-we get paid to do our jobs-
Let's really explore the world of positive tangible reinforcements.
Does rewarding with concretes instill any kind of self discipline -or such qualities as patience-internal sense of accomplishment-a moral compass which teaches us that sometimes working hard and waiting for "down the road" rewards is worth something in themselves?
I think our educational system is getting down right crazy-loonie-loco-I really do.
Let me put it terms of my own fifteen year old-"I want it now or I'll die" daughter.
Her adolescent way of thinking precludes hard work and accomplishment for long term gains. She learns (often enough) the hard lesson that some of those wants warrant patience, time, and work. It's frustrating for her to see the Paris Hilton's of the world become celebrities for no apparent reason. We should all be able to be "one".
Our culture rewards gluttony and excess. It reinforces the "what's it" for the moment. The message out there that works best in advertising is "get it now or it won't be there."
We have raised a generation who think saving money is an archaic notion. I have one friend who's 28 year old son did not want to propose to his girlfriend until he had his college loans paid off and could pay cash for the engagement ring.
That is an anomaly, my friends.
Most people think credit is a way of life.
Back to our kids in school-
I have used concrete rewards to reinforce positive behavior in the classroom. I think it creates a lot of little reward junkies. I really do.
Teaching kids those intrinsic character traits in the classroom is a challenge.
How to feel proud of work well done.
Why doing your best is a good idea-it is only then you will know how far you can go-in any endeavor. The sense of accomplishment one feels when hard work and perseverance produces a quality work.
Little kids really need to be able to develop these traits.
Why? The world is based on money and rewards-you say.
Ask yourself-maybe, just maybe, that is the reason the quality of products, goods and services have become inferior in the US.
Why Americans buy Japanese cars. Why drug companies are being sued for disastrous side effects-why bridges collapse and mortgage companies fail.
Maybe our philosophy of focusing on the external rather than the internal will be our downfall eventually.
Do we really want to teach our kids a philosophy which is already failing our nation?
I don't. Kids in my class need to learn how high they can soar-for the sake of curiosity and the challenge of it. They need to push themselves to see how what possibilities exist and how dreams can be made possible. They learn to love learning because it is an adventure.
Rewarding kids cash for a test that has such little meaning in the scope of life is so typical of our narrow minded little box of thinking.
When will this craziness stop?
