WHY STUDENTS DON'T FIND SCHOOL REWARDING
Jerome A. Price, MA, LMFT, LMSW
In the Introduction to Psychology class I teach at Wayne County Community College there's a section in the textbook on learning and reinforcement. What reinforces learning and enthusiasm for learning?
According to the authors, and those of most psychology texts, the concepts of primary reinforcers and secondary reinforcers explain a great deal. Primary reinforcers are things that come to us as rewards that meet a biological need. Reinforcers such as food, water, sleep and pleasure are the most immediate and powerful rewards. Secondary reinforcers are those rewards that we can use to obtain a primary reinforcer. Rewards such as money are secondary reinforcers because they can be used to purchase primary reinforcers. A student can be paid for good grades and go to the store to buy something he or she wants. Secondary reinforcers are not as powerful as primary reinforcers because they aren't as immediate.
Now...let's look at grades. Our students come to class and work toward a letter written on their paper or test. These earn them a letter written on a piece of paper or on the internet at the end of the semester. These letters are accumulated over four years netting a number on a piece of paper known as a grade point average and a diploma.
After four years of effort this grade point average earns the student the right to go to college or away to a university. There, they work for another four years earning letters on pieces of paper. After between two and nine years of college that accumulation of letters on paper and grade point averages finally earns the student the right to get a job that they might enjoy.
They work on that job and earn a piece of paper called a paycheck or numbers on their bank statements if paid by direct deposit. That check or bank balance can then be traded in for money or a balance on a debit card. That money or balance on the debit card can finally, after years, be traded in for a primary reinforcer.
I don't think I can count how many steps removed grades are from a student's ability to earn a primary reinforcer. Certainly parents can give rewards for grades. However, the amount of work necessary to get those grades is usually not a fair trade for the size of the reward. It takes weeks and weeks of focus and effort to get a single reward.
No matter how you look at it, there are only certain personalities who can keep their eyes on the prize for years with little or no payoff other than letters on pieces of paper. Some of these good students are rather obsessive and compulsive or anxious so they feel immediately relieved when school work is completed. That's an immediate reward....the removal of emotional pain. Others may love the process of learning...but these are a very limited group. The rest find school to be a huge piece of drudgery with no payoff in sight.
The one immediate solution that's available is for students to find social activities that are part of school as early as possible. Activities such as band, vocal, drama, sports and clubs make school part of a student's social world. It also keeps them in relationship to adults. It's okay for parents to insist that their child or teen participate in a school-based activity every semester. They don't have to be given a choice if this activity will keep him or her sane and connected to schoolwork as rewarding.
Hopefully schools will continue to expand their programming for more alternative students. Funding for schools is always an issue limiting what they can provide. Other than financial limitations, I don't understand why extreme competitions in skateboarding, rollerblading and BMX biking aren't varsity sports. Why isn't there a half-pipe behind every high school next to the football field? If we want a wider range of children to attach to school, it's time for parents to step up and develop fundraising to expand programs that intrigue a wider range of students.
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