{"id":75135,"date":"2024-12-09T00:06:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T05:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=75135"},"modified":"2024-12-09T00:06:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T05:06:42","slug":"should-we-give-students-awards-at-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/should-we-give-students-awards-at-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Should we give students awards at school?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost the end of the school year. And that means it\u2019s \u201cawards season\u201d for school students.<\/p>\n

Before the holidays, students, teachers and families will gather for speech days where awards will be handed out for academic performance, citizenship, leadership and extracurricular achievements in sport, art and music.<\/p>\n

Schools bill these awards as a way to recognise and celebrate students\u2019 achievements. But are they a good idea?<\/p>\n

Why give awards?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The philosophy behind giving students awards is to reward them for success.<\/p>\n

This stems from the\u00a0behaviourism approach<\/a>\u00a0to education.<\/p>\n

This highlights how external rewards can influence behaviour. But while these rewards might motivate kids in the short term, once the desire for that reward fades, the\u00a0behaviour often doesn\u2019t stick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Different kinds of motivation<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Research\u00a0has also shown<\/a>\u00a0giving awards or rewards to children can be more harmful than helpful.<\/p>\n

When kids are offered awards, they can shift their focus from enjoying the activity to trying to earn the award. This means they might participate only for the sake of the award, rather than for the joy of learning or personal growth. This means they are motivated by extrinsic (outside) factors rather than intrinsic (internal) ones.<\/p>\n

A\u00a02014 US study<\/a>\u00a0of children in years 3 to 5 showed students who were intrinsically motivated performed better academically than their peers who were extrinsically motivated. The study used a scale to assess children\u2019s motivation. An example of intrinsic motivation was, \u201cI ask questions in class because I want to learn new\u201d, while extrinsic motivation included, \u201cI like school subjects where it\u2019s pretty easy to just learn the answers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Awards can also lead children to\u00a0depend on external validation<\/a>. When kids get used to seeking approval through awards, they may struggle to find self-worth and motivation in their own efforts.<\/p>\n

What about the kids who miss out?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For the kids who don\u2019t receive awards,\u00a0this can lead to feelings of inadequacy or discouragement<\/a>, especially if the same few children are always being celebrated.<\/p>\n

This situation can also create a \u201cfixed mindset<\/a>\u201d, where kids think their abilities can\u2019t change or improve (\u201cI never get an award, I\u2019m not good at school\u201d).<\/p>\n

This is opposed to a \u201cgrowth mindset<\/a>\u201d, in which students believe their abilities can improve through hard work, good strategies and help from others.<\/p>\n

What can we do instead?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This is not to say schools should never give students awards. But it\u2019s important to think carefully about why we are doing this and what the impact might be.<\/p>\n

For parents \u2013 whether your child receives an award or not \u2013 there are other ways to talk about their achievement at the end of the school year.<\/p>\n

It can help to focus no the process, rather than the product.<\/p>\n

You can encourage your child by\u00a0praising their effort and progress<\/a>. This means focusing on the hard work and improvements they made, rather than just the final results.<\/p>\n

For example, you could say something like, \u201cI noticed how hard you worked on your reading this year\u201d. Or, \u201cI could see how much you cared about your final history project\u201d. This helps kids\u00a0feel valued for their efforts<\/a>. This is something within their control and does not invite comparison with others.<\/p>\n

Another effective strategy is to encourage self-reflection. Asking questions such as, \u201cI know you found long division tricky this year. How did you overcome that challenge?\u201d<\/p>\n

This helps kids think about and recognise how they can grow and improve, even when things don\u2019t go to plan.<\/p>\n

This in turn, helps\u00a0develop resilience<\/a>, which is\u00a0so important<\/a>\u00a0for their learning at school and life beyond it.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Elise Waghorn is a Lecturer, School of Education at RMIT University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost the end of the school year. And that means it\u2019s \u201cawards season\u201d for school students. Before the holidays, students, teachers and families will gather for speech days where awards will be handed out for academic performance, citizenship, leadership and extracurricular achievements in sport, art and music. Schools bill these awards as a way […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[10090],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-75135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-awards"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould we give students awards at school? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/should-we-give-students-awards-at-school\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should we give students awards at school? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s almost the end of the school year. And that means it\u2019s \u201cawards season\u201d for school students. Before the holidays, students, teachers and families will gather for speech days where awards will be handed out for academic performance, citizenship, leadership and extracurricular achievements in sport, art and music. 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