Question

Should Parents Pay Their Children When They Earn High Grades in School?

We all probably recall knowing someone in school who got $5 for every “A” they earned in school. Research has found that encouragement of autonomous functioning, individual challenge, and positive feedback stimulates an intrinsic motivation to achieve (Deci & Ryan, 1985). If the environment is highly controlling, however, the internal forces for mastery-achievement may be undermined. Parents who use surveillance and frequent rewards socialize their children to be motivated by, and desire, extrinsic rewards. Two specific parenting behaviors were related to extrinsic motivation and lower school performance. They found that over controlling parents (those who engaged in extreme supervision of homework completion) had children who were more likely to rely on external sources for evaluation. Their grades and achievement scores were lower as well. Parents who relied on external rewards also had children with extrinsic motivation and lower school performance. Ginsburg and Bronstein speculate that extrinsically rewarded children use external criteria to assess their performance, which alters the children’s perception of themselves. This may undermine their ability to self-regulate and choose appropriate work. These children do not learn how to judge their own performance. Encouragement of intrinsic motivation, which is bidirectional and reciprocal, will foster independent self-evaluation and academic success. The goal is for the child to develop the ability to self-regulate and take responsibility for academic success; thus, the parents are not solely responsible for their child’s outcome. So, does paying our children for good grades motivate them to do well in school? Do you see how these children are not able to learn how to judge their own performance? Elaborate. What are some ways that parents can foster the development of intrinsic motivation?

Answer 1

Motivation can be described as the reason behind a behaviour that leads to certain actions produced. Motivation are of two types; internal motivation and external motivation. Some people are internally motivated, while others need an external reason to perform a particular task. Motivation plays a very important role in education. If only an individual is motivated to excel in his academics, will he perform exceptionally well in his exams. If an individual is not motivated enough to do well in his tests, he will get complacent and is most likely to score low.

A person needs to be motivated internally or may need an external motivation to perform better. External motivation includes rewards from parents and teachers. However, once these reinforcements are inhibited, a child no longer performs well. This, it is important for students to be internally motivated.

Some ways that parents can foster the development of intrinsic motivation in students include:

1. Set goals for oneself: Instead of the teacher, instructor or parents setting goals for them, they should be motivated from within to fair well in an examination. They should set a goal for reading a certain number of pages in a day before they close their books. If they set a goal for themselves, they are more likely to achieve it and most importantly be satisfied. Satisfaction of achieving their goal will make them often indulge in behaviour which leads to personal satisfaction.

2. Rewarding oneself: A student could help himself be more motivated if he chooses to reward himself after attaining a goal, like finishing his homework for the day instead of procrastinating for later in the week. He could treat himself with chocolates after completion of his work or take extra play time.

3. Self-efficacy: it can be defined as one's ability to achieve a goal. The confidence within oneself to accomplish a certain goal. Only when you believe in yourself that you can do it, is when you can actually do it. A student should often try attaining goals that they have set for himself, as achieving goals is positivitely associated with developing high self-efficacy which will keep them motivated to study well for their tests.