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● References
● This post is part of the series: Secrets to Behavior
Management
I used rewards, both tangible and intangible for years with particularly
challenging problem kids, as an incentive to get them to do their work,
get along better, and make the right choices.
By bending a little, the student may see you are trying to get on their
level too, and may go further toward following the important rules. The
best part is, you may be able to wean the student away from tangible or
intangible rewards and make the reward a bit more intrinsic when they
see they have a better school experience if they just do what they
promised to do. They also may feel less manipulated, and empowered
with choice as they make better decisions and see that adults begin to
trust them more.
5. Decrease Rewards and Increase Self-Fulfillment
In this final stage, you want to move students away from any type of
external reward or control and toward internal fulfillment. To do this, talk
with the student often about how far they have come, ask them what
their goals in life are, and gradually wean them away from tangible
reinforcements.
Once the student sees how much better their life is without getting into
so much trouble like before, one day they will realize they are just better
off making the right choices. Once they do this, they are not far from
being a self-sufficient responsible person who takes pride in their life and
their choices, and tries to make the right ones simply because their life is
better. With time, they may even want to make the right choices just
because it is the right thing to do. That’s how you know the student has
really progressed into a mature thinking individual who is ready to take
responsibility for their actions and to do the right thing.
This plan starts with rewards and punishment and ends with self-control.
It is not an easy journey, nor do we propose to say that it happens
overnight. For some students, they may stay in stage one for a long time
before ever moving to stage two or three. For others, they may move
more quickly through the stages. Still others may skip a stage
completely. This is not meant to be a fix all solution for every student. But
it is a good guide to follow, to try to move someone from relying all on
tangible rewards and ending with someone who feel that doing the right
thing is its own reward.