Carrots and Sticks

As you may have heard, our Sea to Sky Board of Education recently made the decision to move Squamish's Grade 7 students to Don Ross Secondary in September 2014. Our students are pretty excited about being able to join a Middle Years program and have access to hands on learning: wood work, metal work, sewing, cooking, computers, and so on, a year earlier than anticipated. We know that change is hard. We know there will be some growing pains among students, parents and teachers, too. There are still questions we do not have answers for, but hope that over the next six months, the district teams will create a solid plan for transition. One of the first questions I was asked after the decision was made was, "Will the Grade 6's get year end awards?" That got me thinking. In recent years, the teachers and I have been feeling uncomfortable about the Grade 7 awards. We wonder: What values do the awards (withing academia, citizenship, athletics and music) represent? What values are missing? What impact do awards have on the recipients? What impact do they have on the rest of the students? Leaving one school and moving on to another certainly requires some rite of passage. How can we create traditions that are genuine and inclusive? Here is a blog post by a principal in Alberta who spoke at a conference I attended last month. http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/1079 I especially liked his words about family. If we are trying to create a sense of family in our school, why would we praise and acknowledge only a few? I am a firm believer in the futility of using rewards and punishments to motivate people. Carrots and sticks, as we call them, might work for a very short time, but they do not bring about lasting change or growth. In fact, researchers tell us that rewards are actually demotivating over time. A basic need all children have is to be loved unconditionally. As Alfie Kohn says, "All children have a deep need for their parents' approval. That's why praise often "works" in the short term to get them to do what we want....Rather, the child comes to see her "whole self" as good only when she pleases the parent." (p. 40 Unconditional Parenting, 2005) As a staff, we have not made any decisions about year end awards, but we are beginning to think about it and would welcome input. More thoughts to come...