Yeah. The teacher that has no spouse or kids and lavishes her students with candy constantly is a favorite teacher at my school. But then, these same students seem to be only driven by extrinsic motivation. Many districts have strict policies about food rewards, yet it keeps happening. If you truly show your care and love for students, this will win in the long run. Ten years from now, they will remember with more fondness the teacher that cared, not the one that gave them unlimited candy.

It’s not an easy topic. I’m still trying to make my way through this topic. I know inside that love and support works better than rewards… in the long run. Rewards are much easier to implement, but only work short term. This seems to be true of everything worthwhile in life. Shortcuts don’t work.
Now, how to manage a classroom without rewards? And do it well in middle school? I make small successes, but it’s a daily struggle. I do use praise, which I believe if used correctly leads to intrinsic strength. It is hard to praise when there is no apparent good behavior to praise. But when students do something good and it is noticed and I show my pleasure, they definitely respond in kind. At that point it needs to be pointed out to them explicitly. Not every time of course, but you have to show them to feel and recognize this good feeling over a job well done, or behavior well done.

From my brief look at PBIS it looks like what this article is talking about. PBIS isn’t about rewards. It is about positive support for good behavior. Rewards are an extrinsic thing whereas PBIS is trying to improve behavior through building intrinsic systems. Please correct me if I’ve misinterpreted PBIS.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and encouragement, Peter. This wasn’t an easy article to write as I know rewards are the norm. How have you managed the classroom without material rewards?

On a side note: this is an example of how you can use a religious belief to enhance your teaching without teaching religion. If we all treated each other with God’s love, how much better would our classrooms be? God’s love is not only for those who worship.