How Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Mantle of the Expert support children’s agency in their learning
Soizic Le Courtois and Sara Baker, Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK Introduction When children have agency in learning, they are experiencing learning as a participant rather than as a recipient, and as an activity in which they willingly engage rather than […]
The Dark Side of rewards and punishments in the classroom part I
Ask teachers or educational psychologists about how teachers motivate children to behave and learn in the classroom, and they are quite likely to talk about (amongst other things) systems for rewards and sanctions (Hart, 2010). Advice for teachers frequently advocates their use (Cowley, 2014; Department for Education, 2016) and as the Teachers’ Standards show (DfE, […]
The Dark Side of rewards and punishments in the classroom part II
Many schools advocate the use of praise over punishments, but sanctions are also common for dealing with misbehaviour and typically part of schools’ behaviour policies. In this article, I explore some possible unintended consequences of punishments. ‘Never punish except in anger’ When dealing with misbehaviour and giving punishments, teachers are often told to keep calm […]