Race and Rewards...

My interviews this week on race/social class were interesting because the school I teach at has almost no racial or social diversity. The main question I set out to answer this week was therefore trying to determine how students are exposed to diversity at this school. The teachers all said they try to incorporate learning about different races, cultures, and religions as much as possible through literature and other teaching materials. One of the first grade teachers told me that whenever she has a student whose parents are from another country, she has them come in and talk to the class about their culture, etc. She says that this is something that makes any differences special and is a great learning experience for all of her young students.

I also asked these teachers if they thought we mistake rewards with learning in schools. All three teachers said they try not to reward students for things (both academic and behavior) that they should be doing. However, they did say that they thought positive reinforcement of behavior was a good thing. Hillcrest has adopted a school-wide type of behavioral ‘reward’ called ‘Caught with the Hillcrest spirit.’ If a student is ‘caught’ doing something above and beyond what is expected, they get two cards with their name on them—one goes home to their parents and the other gets hung up on a bulletin board in the hallway. The idea behind this was that it provided positive reinforcement for good behavior. This system does not provide a physical prize or reward, but does acknowledge the students and make them feel good about what they are doing. Most teachers at the school use and like this new program. Several of the teachers did say, however, that after a card is given out they notice students going out of their way to do good in front of the teacher to try to get a card. Although I know this is, when you get down to it, a way to control and direct student behavior, I do not necessarily think it is a bad thing to practice kind, courteous behavior at the elementary level. Any thoughts?