Reply to Why academic awards for elementary aged kids are a bad idea.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I could go on...
http://discuss.peopleforeducation.ca/forum/topics/awards-ceremonies-in-schools

But I'll stop.  Anyway, there are other ways to get to "awards" that aren't the same-old "Best Mathematician" or "Best Reader" or "Most Helpful" or "Best Citizen" bla bla bla.[/quote]

None of these websites have research supporting your specific argument. It's just a bunch of people who share your specific point of view agreeing that the research supports them.  In fact, they're taking it a step farther, saying that awards are bad, grades are bad, sports trophies are bad, etc., etc.  This is a point of view that would like to reorganize society, and I don't even necessarily disagree, I just think it's not realistic, and a waste of your energy.  You're not even making an argument, you're saying "Awards are bad!  Research supports this!"  WHY are the awards bad?  What are they teaching the kids that is so bad?  And if they are sending a bad message to the kids, why aren't you able to counter-act that?  YOU can instill a love of learning in your kids, YOU can take charge of your kids' education.  Why are some ethnic groups associated with academic excellence?  Do you think those parents are sitting around whining about the school awards ceremony and its catastrophic effect on their kids' educations?

So I get your point that awards are not necessarily positive, but my point it that 1. It doesn't matter, and 2. What you can teach your kids by your reaction to the award is more valuable than the award itself.  This is an opportunity to teach your kids the values you would like them to have, whether you would like them to work harder at school, to appreciate other people's accomplishments, or to recognize that awards/being the best are not that important.  The OP has an opportunity to tell her child that awards aren't about smarts, and that hard work is what's most important to be successful at school and in life.  I don't see why that's a bad thing.[/quote]

There are posts with links to the research. You just didn't read them. Therefore your assertion that people who argue awards ceremonies run counter to positive educational goals are making an argument based only on emotion or opinion is incorrect.  It's also interesting that you get the point that awards aren't necessarily positive BUT... Wouldn't it be nice if a school just recognized awards ceremonies as currently practiced aren't necessarily a good thing and they did something about it that was BETTER? Nope. Apparently not, because it affords parents an "opportunity" to explain that what matters is something else. How nice that parents can work hard instill all kinds of messages that, well, I think the school staff also value, they just incorrectly believe that awards ceremonies serve that purpose.

It makes no sense to say that schools should be able to do something (that's not necessarily positive) because as parents we can explain it away to our kids.

Finally, in many ppl's cases, parents of elementary kids do not know the awards ceremonies are happening unless their child is getting an award. In which case they are then notified of the ceremony. Ha, isn't *that* interesting.

Why are some ethnic groups associated with high academic achievement? Well, I suppose the things that promote this outcome are the same as for any individual (or group) who demonstrates success over the odds: because a child studies hard, asks questions when he/she doesn't understand, applies him/herself, doesn't give up, sets aside time for studying, values improvement and accomplishment. Also, in studies of Asian educational culture, it's found that Asian cultures tend to believe that success can be attained through hard work--that it is malleable and not necessarily a "fixed" trait (e.g.,"If I study hard, I can learn math" versus "I don't do well in math because I'm not a math person, so math is hard for me"). This belief in effort over "inherent smarts" is associated with positive results for kids of all ethnic groups... and adults, too. Did that answer your question?  Are you saying an entire ethnic group is motivated to achieve so that their young children win elementary school academic awards? And therefore pursuing another avenue of recognizing and rewarding effort will dampen an entire ethnic group's will to learn? Or just that having a belief about effort "protects" kids against other motivational messages, and so if we only inoculated our kids with this belief about effort we could then just happily put school children through other school sponsored activities that "aren't necessarily a good thing."

It doesn't make much sense.[/quote]

You seem to be making the argument that parents have the greatest amount of influence over their children's beliefs about their abilities.  Is that true?

You can't seem to explain WHY academic awards are bad.  Please go ahead and do that.  I did look at your links, you want me to literally make your argument for you, then refute it, because you have no argument.  You linked to websites of people who are linking to research, when you should be able to say "Awards are bad because they dampen a kid's motivation, because Y, as shown by the study in X."  I'm pretty sure you can't do that, because schools don't give awards for inherent smarts, which is what research on motivation has shown.  I've found on DCUM if people can't articulate something simply, or they link to unrelated research without explaining it, they don't understand what they are talking about, or just have their own agenda.  You just keep saying the same thing over and over.  I feel like I'm wasting my time by asking you to make a coherent argument, so I won't be responding any more because it is getting very repetitive and I've made my points.[/quote]

Links to summaries of empirical articles about various motivations and motivational messages were offered by someone on pages 1 and 2. Here is another one that summarizes some of research in this area, though it is not specifically about awards ceremonies (as commonly enacted in schools) per se:  http://www.researchgate.net/publication/7449575_Classroom_goal_structure_student_motivation_and_academic_achievement

It includes information about research on the contribution/impact of school and classroom motivational cultures on students own motivational beliefs and behaviors.[/quote]

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