Rewards - Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic:
What Does Neuroscience Say And What Does That Mean For Your Classroom?
The motivation debate has been raging for some time. It is one of the few areas of neuroscience where some scientists are in opposing “camps” and literally release research papers in response to each other.
On one side is a group of scientists arguing that the evidence clearly shows that providing extrinsic rewards for naturally challenging and interesting work undercuts intrinsic motivation. On the other side is a group of scientists arguing that the negative effects attributed by the first camp are mythical and the evidence does not match their claims. They argue that if anything, there is a slight positive effect to extrinsic motivational techniques.
This argument is important because it illustrates the limits of neuroscience. In the end, this is about what works for both children and adults - this is about behavioral research, not neuroscience. The neural pathway that leads to the feeling of reward doesn't appear to be different based on the motivation or source. The complexities here are what lead most teachers to focus on what is happening in their classroom with their particular group of students. This is good classroom practice.
In genera,l it is advised to not rely on extrinsic motivators. Students naturally want to learn and expect to have to work hard at school. Feedback, which also has its own section, is a well researched behavior and neuroscience area that acts as a motivator. That being said, students, especially younger ones, seem to respond well to external motivation. In my classroom, I used a marble jar that focused on classroom level rewards (when the jar filled we chose a reward as a class). I also tried to do surprise positive phone calls home and posted some excellent student work. I have seen schools successfully leverage everything from daily rewards for a classroom store to rewards that students worked for all year - like a new tablet computer.
But extrinsic feedback can also fail. It can be difficult to get the balance right and very often teachers give far more negative feedback than they should. The Positive Coaching Alliance recommends six positive comments to every corrective or negative comment when coaching. In my classroom observations as a principal, teachers rarely came close to this mark. So, one common failure is far too many negative comments and disciplinary consequences - this flies in opposition to neuroscience research that shows that brains are far more responsive to positive feedback than negative.
The second way that extrinsic feedback can fail is when teachers do not pay close attention to the impact of the positive reward. We often assume that it will be motivating in and of itself. This can be so pervasive that people will spend literally millions of dollars to pay students for performance - even though research demonstrates that it does not work. This is an extreme example, but what about schools that hand out “caught you doing good” tickets that have no evidence of improved behavior? Or teachers that have set up classroom reward tickets for reading that see no gains in reading performance or quantity- but still keep up the same system?
One of the best tools I discovered and implemented was to set a “principal’s challenge” at my schools. Based on my learning this semester, I believe it was successful because it tapped into novelty, which the brain loves, was positive (which is more effective than negative), was short term so it kept everyone focused, and was highly desirable in terms of the reward. When students won the first challenge, one student from every classroom was randomly selected to help shave my head. In later challenges, one student from each class got to slime me - in front of the whole school. In another, all of the students were able to rotate through a festival of bubble activities. These were not easy challenges. They included significant school-wide behavioral improvement at recess, significant school-wide improvement in math facts performance, and significant school-wide improvement in homework completion.
At the classroom level, keep it simple and don’t be afraid to make adjustments. In fact, students like it when you change it up at least a couple of times a year. It keeps things fresh and keeps them interested. Most of all, focus on staying positive and giving meaningful feedback. This means the most to students - and to adults.
On one side is a group of scientists arguing that the evidence clearly shows that providing extrinsic rewards for naturally challenging and interesting work undercuts intrinsic motivation. On the other side is a group of scientists arguing that the negative effects attributed by the first camp are mythical and the evidence does not match their claims. They argue that if anything, there is a slight positive effect to extrinsic motivational techniques.
This argument is important because it illustrates the limits of neuroscience. In the end, this is about what works for both children and adults - this is about behavioral research, not neuroscience. The neural pathway that leads to the feeling of reward doesn't appear to be different based on the motivation or source. The complexities here are what lead most teachers to focus on what is happening in their classroom with their particular group of students. This is good classroom practice.
In genera,l it is advised to not rely on extrinsic motivators. Students naturally want to learn and expect to have to work hard at school. Feedback, which also has its own section, is a well researched behavior and neuroscience area that acts as a motivator. That being said, students, especially younger ones, seem to respond well to external motivation. In my classroom, I used a marble jar that focused on classroom level rewards (when the jar filled we chose a reward as a class). I also tried to do surprise positive phone calls home and posted some excellent student work. I have seen schools successfully leverage everything from daily rewards for a classroom store to rewards that students worked for all year - like a new tablet computer.
But extrinsic feedback can also fail. It can be difficult to get the balance right and very often teachers give far more negative feedback than they should. The Positive Coaching Alliance recommends six positive comments to every corrective or negative comment when coaching. In my classroom observations as a principal, teachers rarely came close to this mark. So, one common failure is far too many negative comments and disciplinary consequences - this flies in opposition to neuroscience research that shows that brains are far more responsive to positive feedback than negative.
The second way that extrinsic feedback can fail is when teachers do not pay close attention to the impact of the positive reward. We often assume that it will be motivating in and of itself. This can be so pervasive that people will spend literally millions of dollars to pay students for performance - even though research demonstrates that it does not work. This is an extreme example, but what about schools that hand out “caught you doing good” tickets that have no evidence of improved behavior? Or teachers that have set up classroom reward tickets for reading that see no gains in reading performance or quantity- but still keep up the same system?
One of the best tools I discovered and implemented was to set a “principal’s challenge” at my schools. Based on my learning this semester, I believe it was successful because it tapped into novelty, which the brain loves, was positive (which is more effective than negative), was short term so it kept everyone focused, and was highly desirable in terms of the reward. When students won the first challenge, one student from every classroom was randomly selected to help shave my head. In later challenges, one student from each class got to slime me - in front of the whole school. In another, all of the students were able to rotate through a festival of bubble activities. These were not easy challenges. They included significant school-wide behavioral improvement at recess, significant school-wide improvement in math facts performance, and significant school-wide improvement in homework completion.
At the classroom level, keep it simple and don’t be afraid to make adjustments. In fact, students like it when you change it up at least a couple of times a year. It keeps things fresh and keeps them interested. Most of all, focus on staying positive and giving meaningful feedback. This means the most to students - and to adults.
