Manufacturing Motivation: The need for extrinsic encouragment
The use of external rewards in shaping children's behaviour
“Reward the behaviour you want repeated.”
- Larry Winget
Whether it’s play dough, or Plato, everyone learns more effectively If they are motivated by the love of a topic (intrinsic motivation) rather than because they have been emotionally or physically bribed to do so (extrinsic motivation). That doesn’t, however, mean we need to throw the behaviour chart out with the bathwater.
Unfortunately, children are not always naturally motivated to learn, behave or communicate effectively. Toddlers are intrinsically motivated to be an absolute nightmare. So what should the balance between reward and self-motivation be?
For the love of the game
Self-determination theory (SDT): To be intrinsically motivated children need to feel in control, be sufficiently skilled, and have a sense of belonging.
Alongside the benefit of learning through intrinsic motivation, there is some research which proposes that rewarding children for doing something that they already found motivating, lessens their interest in that topic. However, it is a very utopian ideal to get to study only our interests in school, love every aspect of our career, get endlessly excited for exercise and salivate for salads. Unfortunately, that’s rarely how it goes, and we inevitably have to do many things we don’t find awfully motivating.
Apart from our instinctual desire for curiosity, nothing starts off purely intrinsically motivating anyway. Why does an artist love painting? Even if you get a natural satisfaction from the activity, something contributes to that feeling. Whether it’s the validation from onlookers; the visual feedback of the colours; or the calming sensory sensation of the brush strokes – external factors are always influencing us.
In any case, discovering your passion for learning is one thing. When it comes to moulding socially acceptable rugrats, effective external reinforcement is vital for teaching behavioural norms and developing self-discipline. Children are chaos, and they need order. Letting them free ball it is a short-term strategy with long-term consequences. If you want to experiment, leave a group of 4-year-olds on their own for more than 10 minutes and see what happens on a scale of Sunday school to Lord of the Flies.
Intrinsic motivation VIA extrinsic feedback
The extrinsic vs intrinsic argument is often a debate over definition rather than values principles or scientific evidence.
The good thing is, even though not much is naturally intrinsically motivating, we can engineer many, long-term, internal ambitions with effective extrinsic reward. Whether it’s high-fives, class rules, praise, or timeouts, external forces used to shape the habits and behaviour of children. Any parent understands the effort it takes to get children to independently brush their teeth, toilet themselves or just keep their trousers on. Bribery, praise, and fear of consequences, not blind hope that they just will intrinsically want to.
“You can only design the pasture and the environment, then the genetics will take over” - Dr. Russell Barkley
With a well-developed external reward plan and consistent implementation by all adults involved, children over time develop the intrinsic desire to act in a certain way, communicate effectively, and understand the importance of taking on difficult challenges. In schools, class based and individual reward systems work. In both mainstream and special educational needs settings, the bulk of evidence suggests that extrinsic rewards improve behaviour, transitions and attitudes to learning and doesn’t negatively effect on their internal motivations. Extrinsic rewards can even be used to reinforce an action that is physically prompted. I.e. supporting a child’s hand to communicate in sign language, then praising them for it, will increase their likelihood of independently using it next time.
Top tips for implementation
It’s all dopamine, and dopamine doesn’t care.
A rising tide lifts all boats. Having a plan that promotes certain behaviours and values through rewards, whether emotional or physical, not only supports those with behaviour challenges, but develops a positive community where all students can thrive. Children are much more likely to help each other if the general culture of a classroom or home is positive, and nag each other if vice versa. Rewards can be used in the following ways:
Minimise attention challenging behaviour: Praise other teams, friends and even rivals.
Use targeted praise: Be specific about what was done well, rather than “good job”.
Use tangible rewards: find out what each child responds to, don’t assume they just want stickers.
Use social rewards: Praise attention and positive feedback. Other students see what gets acclaim and attention and will follow suit. Even the challenging ones.
Use natural reinforces: rewards of responsibility, like the register to the office, lead to further positive interactions along the way.
Token value economies: Tokens or points for positive behaviour which can be exchanged for rewards. The use of teams gives the opportunity to develop teamwork, competitive spirit and learn how to lose. I will explore this topic in more depth at a later date.
Extrinsic rewards are not limited to sticker charts and praise postcards, they extend into most aspects of children's lives. Therefore, manufacturing the environment so that only socially desirable behaviours are being rewarded, is not only an effective child development tool, it establishes long-term internal motivations.