Before school finished (finally) for summer, my Primary (Elementary) aged son came home pleased to have received a certificate from school praising his hard work and effort. We were delighted to hear about his journey and reflected with him on the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of a year like no other (fingers crossed). However, it felt discombobulating that he should be rewarded for something that is good ‘in of itself’. We wouldn’t ply him with rewards for being ‘honest’ or for showing ‘respect’ because those are qualities he should possess – because they themselves are good qualities.
When we talk about something being ‘good, in of itself’ we mean that the thing doesn’t require anything else to make it ‘good’. For example, the member of staff who helped pack my shopping today shouldn’t be thanked because he did his job, his job is not what defines him– he is thanked because he is a fellow human and that kindness, that ‘thanking someone’ is a virtuous act that is good ‘all by itself’.
My argument this month is that if we place a work ethic as a ‘rewardable act’, in school it somehow makes its nature, its essence, contingent on an external, rewardable, measurable outcome. In other words: we make ‘working hard’ a rewardable act instead of an established virtue in of itself. If, in its place, we reinforce the value and virtue of hard work through reflection – and support internalising it within the individual child – then we respect that a work ethic is good ‘in of itself’ which doesn’t need a reward to validate it.
You may or may not know it, but if you work with children in any capacity be it their parent, teacher, guidance counsellor…you will most likely utilize behaviorist psychology to bend them to your will. ‘Behaviorism’ refers to a branch of experimental psychology which places the importance on learning through association rather than ‘cognition’ which relies more on logical structures. Whether you explicitly learned such techniques in training for a role – or recall how effective they were on you; behaviorism is the brand leader and therefore most recognizable technique for disciplining and modifying child behavior.
Of Behaviorism’s product range – one of the most popular is ‘operant conditioning’. This is the one where good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds punished. Only children who are good get ice cream. If you keep picking your nose, your brains will fall out. If the wind changes, it’ll stay that way…forever. These examples of ‘positive reinforcement’ and ‘negative reinforcement’ are very effective in modifying behaviors. Any time you have laid out a course of action for a child – and wish them to attain a goal – you may promote a pleasing outcome if done correctly or a less than positive outcome to keep them on the straight and narrow. Either way, tangible rewards, punishments or dire consequences can be powerful associations to learning. If you work in teaching, behaviorist techniques are a daily tool in the ever-present toolbox.
For the purpose of this month’s blog, it is the technique of positive reinforcement through a tangible reward that will be my focus.
Nothing wrong with this per se. Operant conditioning is highly effective, especially when it comes to gaining results in an expedient way. Recently, Carol Dweck, in her groundbreaking book on ‘Mindsets’ changed the game somewhat when she suggested that teachers should seek to reward ‘effort’ not ‘outcome’. Her shift of using positive reinforcement for the effort put in toward a goal over the measurable outcome of the goal itself was, in my view, a welcome shift from the old paradigm of praise the trophy, not the journey. However, I cannot help but feel an extra opportunity is being missed in terms of supporting the child’s growth as a person, for whilst rewarding effort is commendable – it is still a ‘reward’ and an extrinsically sought reward as well.
Extrinsic rewards or motivations are those things sought outside of ourselves. If teenagers tidied their rooms (right!) for fear of an argument with a parent or for $20, that’s an extrinsic motivation. The consequence is coming from ‘outside’ of themselves.
“I need to act in this (good) way, for fear of a bad consequence (negation of reward) or in the hope of a good consequence (gaining a reward). “
If the same teenager tidies their room because a tidy room is virtuous and keeping it tidy maintains that virtue – their motivation is intrinsic. The desire to do well is acted upon not because of a consequence, but because it is good ‘in of itself’. They may experience good feelings and positive sensations and garner the praise of others – but these were not the primary motivations.
I would argue as well then, that intrinsic motivations are more sustainable. They are internalized and are acted upon because of the ‘good’ that the action itself possesses. They are locked in, and not only because it makes the person feel good – but they are ‘objectively’ good and transcend the need for reward. Extrinsic motivations rely on others or in some cases on the constant requirement of a separately sourced outside consequence. Rewards must also be well considered – they must match the achievement. What person would engage in a gargantuan effort for a small candy bar?
How could promoting this mindset look in the actual real world? Let’s imagine that ‘Sally’ has worked hard on her ‘Volcano’ project for school. Her final piece is not terribly good, but the teacher wishes to reward her effort:
Extrinsic / Consequence/ Reward: Fantastic effort today, Sally – here is your effort certificate.
Intrinsic/ Good in itself / Virtuous: Sally, I think you have worked very hard today, but how do you feel about your efforts? What were some of the positives from working as hard as you did? Do you think others should work hard as well? If so, why?
Let me stress – I am not ‘anti-rewards’ for effort – of course not. But I would argue that a model of reflection and critical thought promotes a deeper connection to a virtuous act – an extended learning opportunity. Her hard work isn’t finished with the brandishing of the reward, but instead a process of reflection, discussion and critical thoughts which embeds the virtue of working hard beyond measurable outcomes or full-stop rewards. Ideally, Sally is left not feeling like she has been given a token gesture – but she’s been able to fully understand the quality that working hard and persevering enriches not only her own learning – but is a constructive personality trait.
Why should a ‘work ethic’ or the practice of putting in effort be considered so highly? It doesn’t require much in the way of evidence gathering to know this to be true and not just in schools but in the workplace, culturally and spiritually. Two of the world’s largest religions have some clarity on the virtue of hard work. Most famously in Christianity is the ‘Protestant Work Ethic’. This perspective, forged from Calvinism, places significant importance on act of working hard as being good ‘in of itself’ where working hard, along with ascetism and frugality’ is of itself a form of worship to God. This belief of working hard as an act of worship is also mirrored in Islam with Qur’an being pretty clear that time should not be wasted.
But hold up – surely this isn’t universally true!? The German existentialist philosopher, Frederick Nietzsche, doesn’t necessarily agree that ‘working hard’ is always good in of itself. In his ‘Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality’ he opined how whilst the virtue of a hard work ethic will use up all that ‘nervous energy’ it comes at the cost of energies being put into ‘love, refection, brooding and dreaming. I will leave it up to each of you to make your own decisions on the virtue of brooding. It’s worth pointing out that, in the same book, Nietzsche also said that ‘I deny morality just as I deny alchemy’! However, the point here is that where we put our hard work and efforts is a whole other story!
It would be hard to deny the argument that, whether through philosophical reasoning or its application in everyday life, a work ethic is an objectively good thing. This status places it alongside fairness, kindness, benevolence, perseverance, honesty – all virtuous actions that feel beyond the chocolate bar and a pat on the head. These ways of being or ways of acting are not virtuous because of their consequences or how they can be measured, they are valued as good in themselves – shouldn’t ‘working hard’ rank alongside them?
StoatAubergine 