Why the carrot approach is better

Sep 28, 2010

THE new order calls for motivation and the use of incentives to lure children into good behaviour and interest in reading hard. Education pundits observe that the biblical adage ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ has, in recent years, lost favour to giving incentives — for example a chocolate

By Vision reporter

THE new order calls for motivation and the use of incentives to lure children into good behaviour and interest in reading hard. Education pundits observe that the biblical adage ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ has, in recent years, lost favour to giving incentives — for example a chocolate for a reward for passing exams or a promise to motivate the student.

“There is need to motivate children to aim higher,” says Julius Othieno, the head teacher of Entebbe Junior School. One good way is to reward. Incentives are varied; they can be gifts, words of praise, money or even some exemption from routine or allowance of an extra 30 minutes of television watching.

Children are also different. While words may work for one, another may need tangible things. “There are those who need to be talked to and those who will need a reward,” Othieno explains.

Mary Tusiime, a mother of three, notes that today’s children are accustomed to getting something for anything they have done.

Some teachers argue that rewarding children for doing what they should be doing on their own beats the purpose of traditional child upbringing.

Some scholars have denounced the strategy as demeaning, claiming one can perform without promises. But for some children, it may boost their performance.

Juliet Namazzi, a mother of four, criticises today’s parents for not valuing education as much as it was in the past. Parents are not always as strict with grades and discipline like parents of the past generations.

“Most students do not have the pride as a natural motivator; they want something for what they do, and this is the trend,” Namazzi says.

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