QUESTION:

I’m  going to start using DWS in my classroom this coming year.  My grade level uses Fun Friday/Study Hall.  I’m confused on how I can incorporate DWS into Fun Friday.  Am I just overthinking this issue?

RESPONSE:

I have no personal experience with Fun Friday/Study Halls but I gather it’s a reward for those who live up to expectations during the week––or a punishment for those who do not. This doesn’t match DWS thinking simply because it is reward/punishment based.  Rewards and punishments are both forms of external motivation. DWS uses an approach focused on promoting internal motivation.  It uses procedures, expectations and The Hierarchy to raise responsibility.  The two mindsets are quite different.

However, if you are required to participate in this school program, you could perhaps set it up with more of a DWS “flavor.” You could have the students self-assess their own involvement.  Students could be asked to decide for themselves if they meet the requirements of “Fun Friday” or if their own behavior during the week would be more in line with Study Hall.

The younger the child, the greater would be the need to start with a) very clear procedures and 2) very clear criteria for involvement in Fun Friday. One suggestion I would have would be to hold quick but frequent self-assessment times through the week (and throughout each day,) by reviewing the criteria.   This would help ensure that no child is surprised on Friday when they have to indicate that their choices throughout the week have been consistent with attending “Study Hall.”   Even so, with very young children, they may not be able to connect their in-the-moment daily evaluations with the end result (Study Hall five days later,) until the moment they realize that others in the class are going to Fun Friday celebrations––while they are not.

So, no, you’re not overthinking this; it really is quite difficult to find a way to combine rewards and punishments with a philosophy that states that rewards and punishments are ineffective approaches for working with people. Sometimes, in order to try out DWS in a school with a completely different philosophy, teachers simpy have to try to make the program fit with external constraints as best they can.

Some related postings on student self-assessment that may be of interest:

I’m required to give my students a behavior grade.

I would like my students to give themselves a daily discipline mark.

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Posted In: Rewarding
posted On: July 12, 2010: 8:55 am: By Kerry Weisner
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