The case for getting rid of grades and stickers

I began a book called "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Published in 1993, Mr. Kohn stepped out of the prevailing theories of the time. He incises the management in the work place, teachers in education and parents at home and opens up their flagrant and faulty use of rewards as motivational tactics.

I was glued to this theory of abandoning rewards and grades and replacing extrinsic motivators with intrinsic ones. Mr. Kohn's claim is that when you use rewards to motivate employees, students or children, you become focused on the performance and not on the process of learning. The "if you do this then you get that" theory steals motivation from people and replaces it with a false focus on the "that."

All educators should read this book just for its opposing point of view to trends in the last many years.
The greatest question he asks is not "How can you get your students motivated?" but "How can you best create a learning environment where students don't feel controlled and in which they are encouraged to think about what they are doing?"

As I read the first chapters, and I have many more to go, I felt afraid of what the theory entailed as I believed in behaviorism. I have my doubts now as to its ability to generate atmospheres for true learning.

I'll keep you posted on my progress in the book and whether Mr. Kohn succeeded in he arguments and convinced me to follow his ideas.