tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6605813304666153695.post4716347488174295516..comments2023-10-30T07:53:07.227-07:00Comments on Parenting is Learning: Character Education - Focus on relatedness - not on good deedsAllanKatzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01832588840708909428noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6605813304666153695.post-29376810131721221582011-08-11T08:12:10.003-07:002011-08-11T08:12:10.003-07:00we need to be concerned with structures in schools...we need to be concerned with structures in schools that support moral education - cooperative learning , intrinsic motivation . etc <br /><br />I think we can learn from Alfie Kohn – see his article on ‘How not to teach values ‘ http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/hnttv.htm<br />, his books Beyond discipline , moving from compliance to community , ‘ Punished by rewards<br /><br />As the title of his book says – we need to build caring communities of learners rather than focus on compliance. <br /><br />We cannot promote good character in schools if we rank kids against each other, use competition and grades to motivate kids. Kids then see others obstacles to their success.<br /><br />Instead we should be promoting cooperative learning – where excellence is measured by one’s contribution to others<br /><br />The second problem is the use of rewards to promote character . Schools have various mitvah campaigns with stickers and prizes. This behavioristic approach focuses on behavior , on externality. If we want kids to internalize the value, we need to focus on intentions, motives and the feelings behind the actions. A kid can do a good deed and give a sweet to another kid for different reasons – to impress the teacher standing close by , to get a piece of chocolate the other kid is eating, or an act of altuism – just to make the kid feel good.<br /><br />A school tried to promote returning lost items and money found on the playground by giving kids rewards – the result , all of a sudden , kids were finding so many ‘ lost’ items in the playground . The same goes for punishments and consequences. A kid kicked a ball that hit a teacher who then fell and hurt herself. The kid ran. When asked why he did not offer help – he said he was scared of the punishment. Two egs -how rewards or punishments ‘ promote’ ‘ moral’ development.<br /><br />Rewards and punishment/ consequences get in the way of the kid asking – is this the type of person I want to be , are these my values – I am a kid who would not like to hurt others and not because what will happen to him.<br /><br />In all learning , not just socio-moral learning kids need to reflect and do the thinking , make meaning of what they learn, internalize the message and not just give back what others before him have said.<br /><br />Marvin Marshall’s DWS discipline without stress does not use reward and punishment but helps kids to reflect on the impact of their behavior on others – CPS collaborative problem solving by Ross Greene helps teachers and parents to solve problems in a collabrative way rather than use reward or punishment and of course Alfie Kohn’s work.AllanKatzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01832588840708909428noreply@blogger.com