Mistacres Blog

Part 4

Studies have shown that if you give a child rewards for behaviors they were doing spontaneously, and then withdraw the rewards, the child will stop doing what they had done before they were getting rewards.  So, if the child is already capable of getting good grades and now is getting rewarded, what happens when the child stops getting the rewards?  And, if they haven’t got the capability to achieve the goals the school has set for them, what will rewards held out of their reach do?  Teach by using the learning style of the student produces superior results in a blended learning environment, without confusing the joy of learning with extrinsic rewards.

Children are no different from you or me.  If I have poor self-esteem and believe I can’t do something, chances are that I probably won’t even try the task.   But if I’m taught the skills in a way I understand, I am much more likely to succeed in accomplishing the task. I will develop confidence in myself to try other tasks that might be a bit harder.  My previous success becomes the motivation to do well on the next goal.  Individualized learning where the student’s learning style is taken into account makes all the difference.

Allow children to succeed in their learning by adapting to their learning style.  Paying students isn’t going to motivate them to become learners.  This is what we as teachers should be doing, hopefully public schools will one day change their one size fits all mentality.  The responsibility is not just to motivate our children to learn now, but to instill in them the desire and confidence to become life-long learners.