tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1898527418224949692.post6807177646380171124..comments2023-12-28T06:30:43.004-08:00Comments on Figuring It Out: Walking the tight rope of student recognitionJ Bevacqua @jvbevacquahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310639769232238058noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1898527418224949692.post-68385245169924135572011-01-13T15:35:34.587-08:002011-01-13T15:35:34.587-08:00Two thoughts came to mind mind when I read your po...Two thoughts came to mind mind when I read your post John; and interestingly they are from opposite perspectives. <br /><br />First, if we (as educators, parents, or whatever) or honour or recognize students (or anyone else) for that matter we run the risk of our praise losing its meaning. The reason they Olympic medals carry so much significance is because only three people in the world are able to win them. I think the difficulty we face in schools is where to draw that line.<br /><br />On the other hand I think its too easy for academics to disregard extrinsic motivation. From a theoretical point of view, I certainly want to encourage my students to become intrinsically motivated. The realities of the situation make it a little more complicated than that. In fact I suspect 99% of teachers are extrinsically motivated to a large extent. How many of them would continue to do their job if they didn't get paid? Look at how the recent contract negotiations within CISVA became the latest staffroom buzz. Does that mean its wrong? Certainly not. But it does show that the students we teach are really no different than us.<br /><br />Anyway, those are just a couple of off the cuff thoughts I had as I read your post. <br /><br />Cheers,Mr. Doktorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07824368564640692748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1898527418224949692.post-79272319091368963292011-01-12T13:57:12.564-08:002011-01-12T13:57:12.564-08:00Thank you Chris! I appreciated the opportunity t...Thank you Chris! I appreciated the opportunity to reflect on this issue and examine our practice at school.J Bevacqua @jvbevacquahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04310639769232238058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1898527418224949692.post-91098853490195478252011-01-12T13:39:25.219-08:002011-01-12T13:39:25.219-08:00Well done for having the conversations with the ki...Well done for having the conversations with the kids!!! I would love to have a roundtable discussion that includes parents, staff, and students (we only included staff and SPC). Student voice is so important.<br /><br />I think the thing we need to remember is that we have not made the decision to STOP honouring kids, we have made the decision to honour more students for more areas and more often - daily, weekly, annually. As George Couros said to me, if we honour and recognize each student every day, what would the need be to do this after the year is over? We, as parents and teachers, will always continue to praise in meaningful, relevant and specific ways (see Carol Dweck's Mindset for great research on praise).<br /><br /> We have ended awards at an elementary school; doing this at a high school would be much more difficult. The main thing is that we continue to reflect and ask the challenging questions about current practices.<br /><br /> The main question for me is: do awards motivate students as learners. Research and my experience will tell me that the do not. We need to expand our views of what we feel are strengths - people who develop video games, fix the family vehicle, look after their siblings, play a sport outside of school, play in a band outside of school all need to be recognized and helped to bring those strengths into their school experience.<br /><br /> Your last paragraph sums it up perfectly.. we need to "embrace the gifts of my students and honour them in as many and creative ways as possible but at the same time want them to understand that what they do, they do for themselves."<br /><br />The research of Deci and Ryan cannot be ignored. Thank you so much for continuing the conversation!Chris Wejrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12780371633522986214noreply@blogger.com