Rewards
Reading
Reading is to me one of the greatest pleasures. It takes me to interesting places, it allows me to entertain conversations with people I do not necessarily know in person, it lets me live in the skin of fantastic characters, it feeds my thoughts helping me develop my own concepts, ideas, and theories. It is no coincidence that I became a Reading Teacher, since the main reason that drove me to teach was to take part in the development and enrichment of young people’s lives and minds, providing them with the knowledge they yearn for.
Necessary Evil?
To my dismay, however, I have been constantly encountering teachers who still hold a dated perspective of schooling as the necessary evil, the work students have to do to get to the reward. These teachers tend to use anything from free time to candy as such reward, disconsidering the principle that human beings are inherently curious and hungry for knowledge – which is the drive for young children’s explorations, and that continues throughout life if their environment allows.
Learning for life
I see the importance of taking breaks and watching a movie, playing games, or reading a story every once in a while, and I do negotiate with my students that if they do not waste instructional time I can add that fun twist at the end of the week. However, it is not at the expense of teaching, it is one more piece in the puzzle, and it is usually when my students do most of the work. It is what I would call the “application” piece, because when they are watching a movie, playing a game, or reacting to a story, they are independently using the structures and the vocabulary, or digesting the ideas we have been studying – sometimes with my guidance to stay on track, but often not needing it because the “entertainment” is chosen to fit the teaching, and the teaching is chosen to fit their lives, to be useful and meaningful. So the “fun stuff” is actually part of the plan, and it is when, ideally, the cycle comes to a conclusion.
Work x Pleasure
So when I hear teachers defending that the children need rewards, that they need a reason to read (!!!!), or that they are allowing free time as pay for passing a test or doing homework, I feel my heart beat fast and my blood rush to my face in desperation that these children are not being taught that learning IS rewarding – an idea most of them came to school with and are being robbed of. It also leads me to question whether these students are being taught to connect school content with their lives, if they are being stimulated to make sense of what they learn.
Work AND Pleasure
The impression I get is that, in the long run, these children are not being taught that work is what we choose to do for a living because we believe in it, because we enjoy its results, because it fullfills us personally. What they are learning is that work is what we do between our moments of happiness.
I wonder if that is how these professionals feel about their work too.
Response to "Rewards"
Querida Guga! Nossa! Tudo o que eu li são tantos assuntos que nem sei muito bem sobre o que falar e o que comentar! Me vejo muito nos seus textos e me dá uma vontade louca de trabalhar ao seu lado, ser professora com você! De tudo o que li agora ficou mais presente a “proibição” de picture books para as crianças e do tratamento que dão ao sucesso, o relacionando à recompensa. me agrada muito ler que aprender é a recompensa e que a nossa profissão é o que gostamos de fazer e a idéia é que a façamos nosso trabalho com prazer e assim somos felizes no trabalho… E que pena que isso não é passado para as crianças e adolescentes dessa forma de um modo geral. Eu me deparo com muitos obstáculos nesses assuntos e também me frustro bastante. Por outro lado deito e durmo feliz nos dias em que sei que deixei um pouquinho do que sei e acredito e que mesmo sutilmente ajudei uma crianca ou um pai mesmo que em pequenina dose.
Como vc mesma menciona, são os pequenos detalhes que acabam por fazer a diferença e a maneira como lidamos com esses detalhes. Infelizmente o processo não depende somente do professor, mas sim da necessidade de cada pai e daí entramos na estória e tentamos de alguma forma plantar a sementinha ou aparar os galhos do arbusto ou da árvore já crescida.! Enfim, não sei se tudo isso faz sentido para vc mas como já disse antes, ler você me inspira. Saudades….. Muitas.
Take care and never give up!
Te admiro tanto, tanto….!!!
xxoo
Rach