Punishments or rewards?  St. Robert School has both.  As of this week, the teachers are utilizing Bobcat Paws, a reward system where students receive paper slips, “paws,” for going above and beyond the school’s curriculum, cultural, and/or behavioral expectations.  Named after the school’s beloved bobcat mascot, these paws represent four virtues that the school hopes to embed in the hearts of young Catholic students:

Practice safety

Accept responsibility

Work hard

Show respect

The punishment, a more seasoned procedure at St. Robert, is just for middle schoolers: the dreaded punch card.  Small infractions by sixth, seventh, and eighth graders result in a hole punch on their bright green credit cards.  Stack up five punches and you’ve got a detention.

And for the younger grades, late slips and talks with the teachers, parents, and principal help enforce obedience.

Now that St. Robert has multiple ways to motivate students to behave, it will soon become a question of what method works better: punishment or reward.  According to a study of teachers from various schools in Illinois trying to avoid monetary bonus cuts or strive for potentially larger bonuses, people are more motivated by the possibility of losing something then gaining something.  This is called loss aversion (1).

Students who only work for rewards may not produce their most creative work, and are not as motivated by their own interests.  The best, ideal students are motivated by their own passions (2).  However, elementary school curricula generally don’t leave much room for improvising to adhere to the passions of students, resulting in lots of half-hearted work.  A bobcat paw should be earned by a passionate student, but if a student is behaving only for the reward, it’s not influencing them to go after what they really believe in.

Schools that loosen the reigns on strict punishment and rewarding procedures will possibly gain greater respect from students who are grateful for the freedom.  Maybe with a more open environment, St. Robert students would be more motivated to obey.

Nevertheless, all communities and students respond differently to rules and methods of rule enforcement, and it will take time before the hardworking staff finds out which method works most effectively with the student body.

Bibliography

1. “Reward vs. Punishment: What Motivates People More?” Inc.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. <http://www.inc.com/magazine/201304/issie-lapowsky/get-more-done-dont-reward-failure.html>.
2. “Reward & Punishment & How It Might Affect a Student’s Motivation.” Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. <http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/reward-punishment-might-affect-students-motivation-16136.html>.