The Influence of School’s Reward Systems on Students’ Development

Abstract

This paper pays attention to how reward systems at school influence students’ development. Specifically, this paper discusses how different reward systems work on students with different life stage, and finally analyzes why those influence occur with the employment of reward systems, such as operant conditioning and reward addiction. In a nutshell, the paper reveals that school’s reward systems have both positive and negative effects on students’ development. They can attract students’ interests, foster good learning habits, establish a positive learning atmosphere, and increase students’ motivation. However, students may also develop reward addiction, increasing sensitivity to punishment, and decreasing intrinsic motivation. If teachers aim to maximize the advantages of reward systems, avoiding deficiencies and keep merits is an efficient way. This paper provides insights for several deficits in the usage of reward system, pointing out the importance of addressing those issues. Moreover, by showing positive influence of reward system, this paper emphasizes the advantages of reward systems and the accessibility of making it a better tool in the education setting. However, current research does not show whether the influence on reward system can be affected by individuals’ personalities. Thus, future direction of research can be oriented toward how people’s personalities exert effects on the impact of reward systems.