To teachers?

Question

Is political correctness holding all the bright kids back? I feel ( and please correct me if I'm wrong) that too many " awards" are being given to under achievers, and not enough praise is given to the kids that work hard, hand in 4 pages of homework behave well, etc.
Is it fair, or right ( in your opinion) that a child with serious behavioural problems and NO interest in learning whatsoever, gets to go up in assembly every other Friday for 1-2 awards, while the bright, hardworking well behaved kids get ignored completely for an entire term ? This seems to be happening quite a lot at some local primary schools, so I was just wondering what the goal is here ! Surely the bright kids will give up in the end if they do not get at least some praise ?

Thank you to all, very good answers. I do agree that certain children do need the praise and encouragement in order to try harder, and I'm all up for that, but what happens when you hear the " bright" child say " what's the point? Noone cares anyway" !! That is the point I'm trying to make, That's just wrong isn't it?

squeezy, thank you, I aprreciate and understand your answer fully, such a reward for a bright child would indeed be patronising, but what happens when they don't even get a pat on the back for all the " hard" work that they have done? Is that a problem with the school, or the system?

Answer 1

Great question, and one I've been struggling with. My kids are not super high achievers, but your " just above average" ones. Their school is full of needy, poor, lower socio-economic class kids. They get all, the rest suffer. This is because of all the rigid testing and No Child Left Behind programs. The truly gifted kids at least get some gifted services. The rest "make the grade" so they are left alone. Last year my son's guidance counselor told me in one breath that my son was struggling with reading. My response was, what is the teacher and school doing to help him. His response? Well, technically he isn't below grade level, so we really don't feel like we need to do anything. He had been above grade level the year before, which meant that he had gone NOWHERE in a year. Of course, that didn't raise a red flag, because technically he was "on grade level". Our bottom may rise, but our top will fall. As parents we have to do the praising and supporting because frankly teachers are too overloaded to be able to deal with all the different levels on top of the atrocious behaviors and distractions kids come to school with. All the No Child Left Behind and other Minimum achievement tests may be helping the lower end, but at the expense of all the rest of the kids. Be your child's biggest advocate - it may be all he or she gets in the public school system.

Answer 2

It is about standards- that is why we 'age rate' exams. We also differentiate rewards depending on how difficult a child finds it to reach their goal- for example, a child who has genuine problems coming to school (way more than many 'normal' people could even comprehend) we'll reward them for coming to school. For a bright child with strong home support such a reward would be patronising; it would be an insult to their intelligence, as they'd find such a thing easy. A bright child faced with that would say the opposite of 'what's the point?' - they might (especially boys) say 'woohoo, that is all I need to do to be OK' and drift along never striving for better.
Therefore, a good school would set them a hard but achievable target and they too could get a prize in assembly.

Sadly, many schools do this 'in theory' but forget to actually reward the good kids. Sadly this is because they don't kick up so much of a fuss. It is a sign of a good school that they reward to 'push up' the bottom end of their kids and reward equally to stretch up the more able ... with rewards for those in the middle too.

I think I answered you further comment above, however, to reiterate; the system (as in the DFES) DOES expect schools to reward all on the correct level. Good schools do this- however many schools forget to reward the top (or the bottom- I've seen very 'successful' traditional schools where the less able have been ignored or, worse, mocked) because of time pressure. It is a case of poor leadership choices. The system has guidelines in place; the leaders of schools should be stringent in upholding these.

The other thing they need to do is ensure sanctions for ALL are harsh but fair. A balance of both is needed for students to feel secure.

Answer 3

I am in 6th form now and never had this problem in infant and primary school but then in about year 9 we got positive discipline. The only problem was that the really bad kids used to get taken on trips all over just for been not as bad as everyone else and the good kids got nothing, which i think did dampen a lot of the brighter kids spirits.
On the other hand though i work with a 5 year old boy who has a lot of family problems and behavioural problems, the school are quite bad with him and the poor lamb spends half of his time in the headteachers office yet when we have him a nursery he is an angel as we really praise him for been good and he thrives on positive attention so i dont know its a hard one.

Answer 4

In reply to your question unfortunately this is happening frequently nowadays and is a major concern to parents and the education authorities. I have spoken with many people who will always indicate the bright ones will always proform but ur right this can cause low esteem thinking whats the point. In many schools today behaviour is a big concern and I agree these children are always rewarded if not extra playtime certificate in the weekly assembly and stickers. The middle grade children are the ones who really struggle and get left in limbo.We must remember that every child matters and their education matters also. Parents should monitor childrens progress feel free to ask teachers question and if any concerns speak up because children(yours ) rely on your supporting them. I tell people education comes and goes quickly and plays a major part in ur profession.

Answer 5

In our school we celebrate a pupil of the week who has acheived the best academically along with some good work examples, we do have a rule that pupils cannot receive it the following week in order for all pupils to get a chance. Bright pupils also qualify for the gifted and talented which means thay get all sorts of priviledges for being smart, including trips, prizes, extra help, specialist coaching etc.

I think it will always be a problem in schools, however as a rule we also write at least one positive comment in every childs book everyday to encourage them all.

Answer 6

It is indeed a sad world when you get an award for just showing up.

If the rest of the world operated like this, we'd still be living in mud huts and scavenging for carrion.

As for "fairness", it isn't fair to society to shortchange the gifted in favour of the marginal. It would seem to me a much wiser use of resources to give the top 10% of your students a bigger slice of the pie than to throw that money away on kids who can't or won't learn. I know it sounds ominously Huxleyian, but there are those who will never rise above the menial, and there are those who have native intelligence and talent. It makes a great deal more sense to me to encourage and support the best and brightest.

An old military maxim that seems to apply here is "Never reinforce failure".

Sadly, our schools are run by cowards who will never venture out of their collective comfort zone.

Answer 7

There were kids at our school who got awards for turning up for 5 consecutive days!! Other (trouble makers) got awards simply for not getting into trouble.

I understand that it is important to award good changes in behaviour as well as results - so it's not as daft as it sounds. I too felt a little hard done by, getting straight 'A's and always being on time but I can see the other side now.

Answer 8

You have a point and bright, quiet, hardworking children should certainly not be ignored but different children require different strategies. Some children go to school everyday and do very well however, for some children it is an effort to even get to school and so if an award is motivation for them then why not do it.

Answer 9

All children need praise and reward.It is right to encourage the less bright but not at the expense of fairness.Bright children have the prize of natural success and a good system should be able to cater for both.

Answer 10

I couldn't agree more!

I work at a Special Education Centre where our goal is to honour every student for what they can do.

Every year amongst our more challenged students we have those who come to us because they have been " too clever" for their old school.

They have often felt penalised for being too 'nerdy' or simply finding it all too easy.

We reward effort, not results. When our brighter pupils put effort into their work beyond that needed to simply answer, they get rewarded for it.

And rightly so. There is nothing wrong with honest praise.... and it feels good doesn't it!