Book Study Scholarship project

For this project I worked with a group to read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn

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Reflection 

KOHN, A. (1993). PUNISHED BY REWARDS. Houghton Mifflin. 

From reading this book I was able to gain further insight on the ideas and consequences of behaviorism. Using tangible positive reinforcement to encourage desired behaviors is something I have long thought was an effective classroom management technique. While it is effective for short-term results Kohn states that, "The more rewards are used, the more they seem to be needed” (Kohn, 1993, page 17). Using grades and treats and other rewards as an incentive to do quality work does an disservice to the student by only giving them external and tangible rewards as motivators. It is better for the student to act on their own natural inclination to learn and explore so they can have a better quality learning experience and outcomes. I think this is especially true in the music classroom setting. Giving students a motivator that isn't tangible will encourage the students to be more engaged in the process of musicking and have a life-long appreciation for music. It will allow the students to be engaged in an experience that is more meaningful to them personally. 

​Having the opportunity to discuss this book with my peers has been helpful in gaining these different perspectives and understanding of these ideas. It is also helpful to hear from other's experiences with teachers and how they approached discipline and rewards. In my experience , which was similar to most of my group members, a reward system was prevalent in our public school classrooms. It is enlightening to be aware of the effects of this philosophy in areas other than education such as the workplace and economics. Gathering from different experiences and philosophies I can gain my own, personal philosophy of education for when I teach in the future.  

Here is a link to the google doc including the chapter summaries