How to say NO! Communication skills that work

Is this poppy complete? No.

  

Most people don't like saying no -- in any language. But to be strong and confident,
sometimes you have to say no. Watch this lesson to learn *how* to say "no",
show confidence, and have the respect of your co-workers, family, and friends.
Test your understanding of the lesson with the quiz:

Fourth dimensional patterns within eternity's monolith wood, he suggests.
See, merely -- you probably don't under what I was saying, and I'll tell you the truth. I don't. 

Hi. James from EngVid. Looking at a Kindle, and I'm going to be using this in this lesson
to teach you something. Today, what I'd like to do is help you with saying no in English.
Saying no in any language is a very difficult thing to do simply because –
well, there are a few reasons. People want what they want, okay? And they don't like hearing "no". 

People take it personally. Even though you're saying no to the request,
it's usually, "You don't like me. That's why you said no." We all have that, right?
And the third thing about saying no is if you keep saying no, it's hard to have good communication 

because there's a lot of negative conversational energy there. So we want to get rid of 

that and get rid of that word "no". We're going to -- I'm going to help you today.
Why? Because you need practice in conversation 

so that you can have the best relationships you can have. Right?
Right. So what we're going to do is learn how to say no without saying "no" 

so that you can maintain your relationships and free yourself up a little bit.
All right? Let's go to the board.

Nein. Nyet. No. Non. Nada. "Nada" means "nothing". Not quite "no", but you get the drift. All right? 

So Mr. E's saying no. He doesn't like something. 

But how can you say no without getting into trouble? 

Let's go to work, for instance. We're going to go to the board,
and we're going to do an example at work. Happens all the time, right?
Now, especially if you're a new person learning English, and you're trying to use English on the job, 

the last thing you want to do is tell your boss, "No." Because you must work hard. This is the job. Okay? You already know this. So let's see how you talk to a superior or a boss and say no.
You're asked to do another job when you have already got a lot of important work to do.
So what do you say? How do you get out of this? You don't. You say something like this.
"Sure. I can do it. However, I won't be able to do this other thing you want done.
(Now,) which one is more important to you?" Seems simple? It is, and it's very effective, 

To me, Now sounds to be a command in this situation.
and I'll explain why. This is why it works. First of all you let them choose.
When you're saying no to someone, you're kind of taking away power because you have the power 

to say yes or no. You say no; they lose their power. You're now giving it back.
I'm saying you have the power to choose what you want. What do you want to do?
That's powerful by itself. They feel good. They're like, "I get to choose?"
Next. You're not rejecting the request. To reject means no. I didn't say "no"; I said "sure".
"Sure" is the exact opposite of "no". You're saying, "Yeah. I can do it for you. No problem. I'd love to. Problem." But it's not your problem; it's their problem. They have to choose what they want. Okay? 

You're saying, "You get to choose, but I'm happy to help you either way." I'm saying yes because
I'm that kind of person. Right? Also, you're reminding your boss -- you're telling her, you know, that,

"Hey, look. I've got other work of equal importance because I've got this job and this job, and you know they're both important as you gave them to me. You need to choose and help me here." Right?
So by reminding them of that, you're reminding them that even though you're a foreigner
learning English, your work is valuable and so are you and you should be respected a bit. Right?
After all, they hired you and they're giving you the work. So I hope you liked that one because
you don't spend all your time in the office do you? I don't think so. You have relationships. So the next one I'm going to do is going to help you win your relationships. Are you ready? Let's go there.
Hi. We talked about work. And you have to say no sometimes at work.
But you also have personal relationships outside of work. And this one's especially made for that.
A lot of times, people offer you things to get you to do things you don't want to do.
They're being what we call "sneaky" because they know you would say no,
so they offer you something that you have to say yes to. So let's get -- let's use some English
to get you out of that trap, shall we.

He uses ‘but’ and ‘however’ in different places for a reason.
Check out BUT and HOWEVER

You can TCR music, poetry or self development material for internal knowing.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com        gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com              which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com        just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

How to be a better reader

Speedwell.

How to be a better reader

Paul Shoebottom

The importance of reading

Reading is an extremely important skill. It is by reading that you learn much of what you need

to know for your different school subjects. Reading is also an excellent way to improve

your general English. You can only learn from reading, however, if what you read is not too difficult. For this reason, it is important to know what makes texts difficult and how you can improve

your chances of understanding them.

What makes texts difficult to understand

Most of your reading difficulties will be caused by a problem on the list below.

Of course, when two or more of these problems happen together,

your chances of understanding will be even smaller.

the text has many unknown words

the text has long, complicated sentences

the text is about a topic you know nothing about

the text is about a topic you find boring

the text has small print, long paragraphs, no pictures

the text has been badly written

you are feeling tired

you are distracted

you don't know the important cohesion markers

you don't know why you have been asked to read the text

How to understand more of what you read

You can do nothing about some of the reading difficulties: for example, you can’t change the print

in a book or make poor writing better. But there are many things you can do that will give you

a better chance of understanding what you read. Here are some suggestions:

1. Know your reading purpose - The way you read a book or a text depends very much

on your reasons for reading it. This is why it is so important to know your reading purpose.

You should read a question in your math exam differently from an entry in an encyclopaedia

 which you are looking at quickly to find out the date of an event. The kind of reading you do in class or for your homework is different from how you read a novel for pleasure in the summer vacation.

If you know your reading purpose - perhaps by looking first at the questions you must answer

after reading - you can choose the best reading method.

If your teacher gives you something to read and doesn't tell you what you need to find out

from the text or what you will do after the reading, ask her (or him)!

2. Choose the appropriate reading speed - ESL students often take a long time to do their work because they read everything slowly and carefully.

Often, however, one of the following speedreading methods will be the best choice:

Skimming - this is reading a text quickly to find out what information it contains.

You should skim when, for example, you want to check if a text has the information you need

to answer some questions or write a project.

It is often enough to look at the first (and last) sentences in each paragraph.

Scanning - this is reading quickly to find a specific piece of information. You should scan when,

for example, you are looking for the answer to a question which you know is in the text.

In general, students should be trying to increase their reading speed.

3. Get background information - Find something out about the topic you have to read.

The more background information you have, the easier it will be to understand the text.

You can get this background information background in your own language.

For example, if you are studying the Italian Renaissance, you could read an encyclopaedia

or textbook in your own language to find out the most important details about this historical period. Your parents may also be able to give you useful background information.

Talk to them in your language.

You can sometimes get background information from the text itself. Many writers include

a conclusion or summary; if you read this first, it may give you a good start.

4. Use all the information in the book - Good textbooks are well-organised,

with titles, sub-titles, introductions, summaries or conclusions.

Many books also have pictures with captions. Look at all these first before starting to read.

Another aspect of good writing is that each paragraph has a topic sentence. A topic sentence

is a sentence, usually the first one in a paragraph, that contains the main idea of the paragraph.

If you concentrate on understanding the topic sentence,

this may help you to understand what comes next.

5. Increase your vocabulary - Of course, reading itself is an excellent way to improve your vocabulary, but there are many other things you can do.

The better your vocabulary, the easier you will find your reading.

6. Use your dictionary sensibly - A common mistake of ESL students is to look up

each unknown word in the texts they are given to read. Occasionally this is necessary - for example, when reading examination questions. But it takes a long time and can be very boring.

It can even make understanding more difficult because by the time you reach the end

of the paragraph you have forgotten what you read at the beginning!

7. Learn the important words that organise text - When you read texts in your science

or history books, you will find that most good writers organise their writing with cohesion markers (also called transition words). These are words that connect different parts of the writing

and help writers structure their thoughts. If you learn the important cohesion markers,

you will find it easier to understand the text.

Here are some important cohesion markers:

also, therefore, except, unless,however, instead, (al)though, furthermore, moreover, nevertheless, 

on the other hand, as a result, despite, in conclusion.

8. Choose the right place to read - You can’t really expect to understand a difficult book

if you are trying to read in the same room with the television on and your little brother

is distracting you. The same goes for reading in the bus on the way to school. You also can’t expect to read a textbook and listen to music at the same time. Try to find a quiet and comfortable place with good light, and your dictionaries and other materials nearby.

9. Choose the right time to read –

If you have a difficult text to read for homework, it’s probably best to do this first.

If you leave it until last when you are tired, you will find it even more difficult.

Important: If you have tried the advice above and you still cannot understand a text,

then it is simply too hard for you. Stop reading and ask someone to help you (your ESL teacher,

for example!). Nobody likes to give up, but you will just be wasting your time

if you continue to work at a text that is beyond you.

What to read

Most of the time you have to read what your teachers tell you to read.

But as you know, reading is an excellent way to improve your English, and so you should try

to do some extra reading each week. Here is some advice on how to choose what to read:

Try not to read something too difficult - There should be no more than about 6-10 new words

per page; reading for pleasure should not be hard work!

Reading easy books is good for you -You will improve your reading skills even if you read

simple books, as long as you read lots of them. (But you may find you don't really enjoy stories written in English that has been over-simplified.)

Try to read some non-fiction - Reading non-fiction books or magazines will help you learn

some of the words you need to do well in your subject classes.

There are millions of pages of non-fiction on the world wide web!

Choose something that is interesting to you - This is clear. In fact, if you are really interested

in a topic, you will probably be able to understand texts that would normally be too difficult for you.

Surf the internet - You can learn a lot of English just by surfing around on the websites that interest you. This is particularly true if the webpages contain pictures that help you understand the writing.

Practise your reading skills on this website.

http://esl.fis.edu/learners/advice/read.htm

You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries that are spontaneously accessed.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com         gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com              which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com        just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

The Clock & The Compass: Rethinking Instruction

Common Mallow.

The Clock & The Compass: Rethinking Instruction

Joe Kirby

 

We should focus instruction on rigorous, content-led, subject-specific tasks

that ensure students think hard about subject content.

It is my belief that we need to change the way we think about planning and instruction.

In his book First Things First, Stephen Covey suggests changing the way we think about time:

from the clock to the compass. Clock thinking is working out how to get more and more things done. Compass thinking is working out which things to focus on in the first place.

In teaching, it strikes me that we are stuck in clock thinking. We think about planning

and evaluating individual, ideally ‘outstanding’ lessons. This pursuit of the ‘outstanding lesson’

is a chimera, spawning innumerable INSETs and entire book series.

Is the road to hell paved with outstanding intentions?

As Professor Coe has pointed out, this risks focusing our attention on poor proxies for learning:

But there’s no point criticising without suggesting an alternative.

Last weekend I promised a constructive alternative to lesson planning for fun, generic activities 

that risk distracting students from thinking about subject content.

The alternative as I see it is to think about activities last of all, and design the entire core content

of the unit and its assessment first. Rather than focusing on individual lessons, we need to refocus on entire units, and the sequencing across and between them. This is a phenomenal amount

of work: Katie Ashford and I spent around 500 hours between us planning and resourcing 

this one unit on Oliver Twist. The topic of my next post will be how we might evaluate such units.

Example curriculum overview: co-planned with Katie Ashford

Example knowledge grid: Katie Ashford’s Oliver Twist

Example lesson questions: Katie Ashford’s Oliver Twist

Example unit sequence: Katie Ashford’s Oliver Twist

Then, and only then, after specifying and sequencing the unit’s knowledge, can we refocus on rigorous, subject-specific tasks that ensure students will be thinking hard about subject content. 

It only makes sense to think about activities once you have considered what knowledge pupils need, and in which order.

What exactly do we mean by rigour? The litmus test for each task is Professor Coe’s simple theory

of learning: will it help students think hard about subject content?

To my mind, rigour in teaching is all about the effective transmission and retention of knowledge

in pupils’ long-term memory: if tasks don’t focus students on subject knowledge,

then they’re not helping students learn.

For now, I just want to focus on the rigorous tasks that I’ve found most effective for instruction

in one subject: my subject, English.

For me, task selection in English depends heavily on which genre – whether poem, play, novel, nonfiction or grammar – and which content – context, author, plot, characters, themes,

language, structure, form or concept – I am teaching.

Nevertheless, here are some (non-exhaustive) tasks that I have found most useful for English, roughly in order of increasing complexity:

Record the lesson, essay or exam question and underline the key words.

Record a checklist of criteria and highlight the key words.

Reading aloud in (irregular) turns, whole-class line-by-line with a ruler.

Whole-class pose-probe-bounce stretch-questioning, no-opt-out.

Read question; then discuss in pairs; then share as a class.

Underline key quotations, highlight key words; then justify choices in pairs.

Write short (even one-word) answers to 20 ‘do now’ written questions.

Sequence these in order (episodes in the plot, characters in importance)

List and collate examples (of characters, themes, concepts) or ideas.

Listen to explanation of a concept with an example/non-example sequence of questions.

Decide whether these (context, plot and character) statements are true or false.

Mindmap and collate examples or ideas for characters, themes or language.

Answer 10 or so plot comprehension questions (& ‘why?’ extensions) in full sentences.

Complete a spelling quiz or test & mark each other’s.

Match vocabulary & definitions/synonyms/antonyms, or vice-versa.

Match dates and events in a contextual timeline.

Categorise examples (of characters, concepts etc) into columns.

Discuss multiple-choice hinge-questions with distractors in pairs.

Discuss hinge-question answers, misconceptions and justifications as a class.

Complete multiple-choice quiz on core content (between 10 and 50 questions).

Free recall test on 10 context or character questions.

Create sentences with examples of concepts.

Annotate model paragraph for content/techniques/criteria.

Give peer-assessment feedback with clear criteria-based questions.

Compare model sentences for the differences in quality of criteria.

Write a sentence with a rigorous conjunction (although, at first glance, overall, ultimately, etc).

Create a free sentence ready to share in pairs and with the class.

Write answers to ‘exit ticket’ questions on concepts or content.

Plan essay ideas in a graphic organiser (grid/matrix/flow diagram).

Summarise the text/plot/characters’ journey in a paragraph.

Find similarities and differences between characters with a focus (first/last impressions).

Summarise the text/plot/characters’ journey in a paragraph.

Compare two introductions and evaluate which works better and why.

Compare two conclusions and evaluate which works better and why.

Write an analytical paragraph on a character, theme or concept.

Write a comparative paragraph on characters, themes, concepts, chapters or poems.

Read each others’ essays and write extension questions.

Redraft the story/poem/biography/speech/essay with corrections and improvements.

Create a (gothic/ghost/etc) short story (e.g. 200 words) or poem (limerick/haiku etc).

Write an informative biography.

Write a persuasive speech.

Convert the speech to notes and memorise it.

Practise, rehearse then deliver the speech.

Write an analytical essay (with context).

Write a comparative essay (with context).

… and there are probably 45 other tasks you could list – and more.

The vital distinction is in connecting these tasks to subject content to ensure students are thinking

as hard as possible for as long as possible about the right things. Ultimately, it is how to connect these still-generic tasks with specific subject content that matters most.

How are these tasks more rigorous than others? They focus pupils’ attention more on thinking carefully about subject content, and they risk less distraction from it. They prioritise retention 

rather than variety for its own sake. Tailor the task to the content, rather than vary activities for pupils’ supposed learning preferences. First things first: first content, then (and only then) activities.

Of course, spelling, grammar and vocabulary are a different story. So are creative writing

and public speaking. They require unique, tailored tasks, beyond the scope of one blogpost.

The point is, activities are best when subject-and-topic-specific, not generic.

From the clock to the compass: the thinking shift is from planning lessons for engaging,

generic activities to selecting and sequencing rigorous, content-led tasks across units. The key difference is the pursuit of the optimal mode of knowledge transmission, retrieval and retention.

The guilty secret of the “outstanding lesson”: a chimera that never existed at all

***

https://pragmaticreform.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/instruction/

 

You can TCR software and engineering manuals for spontaneously recall – or pass that exam.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com         gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com              which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com        just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.

Vocabulary - though, although, even though, despite, in spite of

Dog rose.

Though, although, even though -- how do we use each of these in English?
In this lesson, I'll explain how we use them, and when exactly they are used in English.
I'll also teach you the meanings and uses of despite and in spite of. Everything
is demonstrated with examples. Test yourself afterwards with the quiz:    http://www.engvid.com/vocabulary-though/

You can TCR music, poetry or self development material for internal knowing.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com          gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com               which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com         just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

How To Become A Better Reader

Seepwell.

How To Become A Better Reader

 David Mikics

It's easy to fill your time with Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook, checking email

and glancing at news headlines. But sooner or later you yearn for the pleasure of a good book.

The Internet wants us to click every other minute from site to site.

This habit can stand in the way of an older kind of reading, one that offers real pleasure

and understanding: settling down with a book and getting to know it as well as you can.

Anyone can be a good reader, even in the Internet Age.

Reading better means reading more slowly.

The Net tells us to consume words in small, easy bites, as we dart from one webpage to another.

But slow reading demands time and practice.

When you read, keep your sense of fun, but combine it with the ambition to experience books

as deeply as you can. Make yourself ready for the serious delights that reading can offer:

the unforgettable people and worlds that you can encounter nowhere else.

Here are some rules that will help you with slow reading.

If you enjoy books but feel that there must be more to see, and say, about what you've read,

these rules are for you. They will enable you to become a more able and careful reader,

to know what to do better when you open a book.

BE PATIENT
We must be patient in order to let ourselves listen to a book, to be open to it,

and to give ourselves the time to figure things out.

Reading patiently means looking out for what's small and significant in a book: the details.

"In reading, one should notice and fondle details," said Nabokov.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
When you read a book, think of yourself as a detective looking for clues. What are the good leads?        The best questions you can ask are ones that tie the parts of the book together:

what does the beginning have to do with the ending? What are the most telling moments?

IDENTIFY THE VOICE
How does the author of your book speak to the reader? Jane Austen sounds respectable,

but also sly and underhanded; she teases conventional belief, yet argues for it too.

Dueling characters in a novel often have competing voices.

GET A SENSE OF STYLE
Writers sound very distinct from one another on the page.

Through style, the author announces his or her inmost self.

The labyrinthine Henry James couldn't be more different from the spare, uncanny Kafka.

NOTICE BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS
How often do you look back to the beginning of a book after finishing it? Well, you ought to.

The structure of a book tells you how it thinks, and openings and conclusions 

are the backbone of structure.

IDENTIFY SIGNPOSTS
Signposts are key words, key images, key sentences or passages. Think of reading as a kind of travel: signposts help you map your journey. Works like Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

or Virginia Woolf's "The Death of the Moth" center on a signpost image.

USE THE DICTIONARY
Take the time to look up a few words that interest you, even if you already know their meaning,

in a good unabridged dictionary like the American Heritage or, best of all,

the Oxford English Dictionary. You will enrich your reading experience beyond measure.

TRACK KEY WORDS
Key words allow you to trace the argument of a book: justice in Plato,

love and ambition in Stendhal, work in Robert Frost. Austen's titles let you know straight off

what her key words will be: "Pride and Prejudice," "Persuasion", "Sense and Sensibility."

FIND THE AUTHOR'S BASIC THOUGHT
This is most challenging of the rules: press yourself to discover the fundamental question

that animates an author. Imagine someone asking, "what does that book you're reading

want to tell you?" and try to come up with the fullest, most interesting answer.

BE SUSPICIOUS
All too often, when we start reading, we decide quickly which characters we like

and which we dislike, who's evil and who's good. But the truth is more complex:

every good author wants to frustrate your desire for simple meaning, so that you will suspect

your first reactions and find a deeper layer of meaning beneath those initial responses.

FIND THE PARTS
Try to understand how a book is organized, even if you've only read a few pages of it so far.

Draw a mental map of the book's sections; see how it progresses from one phase to the next.

WRITE IT DOWN
You'll find it helpful to jot down your impressions in the book's margins, or in a notebook.

Even if you only do this a few times as you read a book, you can start a conversation with the author by summing up your reactions.

EXPLORE DIFFERENT PATHS
Revision is one of the writer's basic tools, but it's also useful for readers.

Imagine how an author might have ended a work differently, or changed a crucial moment

in the plot. You'll be thinking with the author, gaining insight into his or her decisions.

FIND ANOTHER BOOK
Every worthwhile book proposes a world of its own, and instigates a lively debate with other books. Homer's "Iliad" glorifies the heroes of the battlefield;

Tolstoy's "War and Peace" gives a darker, more doubtful picture of them.

Measuring one great author against another will enlarge your reading of both.

David Mikics is the author of the new book Slow Reading in a Hurried Age.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-mikics/how-to-become-a-better-re_b_4065443.html

You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries that are spontaneously accessed.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com         gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com              which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com        just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”    

Why aren’t rewards working?

“Everybody has won, and all must have prizes.”

Lewis Carroll’s Dodo, Alice in Wonderland

Reward systems hold the promise of digital tracking of students’ effort and decisions in lessons.

But sometimes they backfire, as this teacher points out:

“When the new system was introduced, one of my pupils shouted:

‘You get points just for showing up! What does that teach us?’ Looking later at the stats,

I noticed that the top five reward earners were the worst behaved students in the entire school. Prizes were simply being used as a way of getting kids to do what they should be doing anyway, rather than to reward students for going the extra mile. The attitude was ‘oh well,

I’ll get more later anyway, I can’t be bothered to answer these questions, so I won’t’. That’s when

it struck me: giving out unmerited rewards all the time actually legitimised their poor behaviour.”

 Economics

 

A couple of stories from economic research can enlighten us as to why incentives backfire:

‘When people were given a small stipend for donating blood rather than simply praised

for their altruism, they actually donated less blood. The stipend turned a noble act of charity

into a painful way to make money, and it simply wasn’t worth it.’

‘Nursery schools started fining parents who turned up late to pick up their children at 4pm.

The result was striking: the number of late pick-ups more than doubled.’

There are two main types of incentives: economic, and social or moral. The fine and the stipend backfired because they substituted an economic incentive for a moral incentive.

Stephen Covey calls the carrot and the stick approach ‘animal psychology’,

‘the great jackass technique of human motivation’.

Daniel Pink also exposes the flaws of carrots and sticks: ‘Rewards often don’t help and often harm: they end up giving us less of what we want: they extinguish intrinsic motivation,

diminish performance, crush creativity and crowd out good behaviour.’ 

Pink asks: ‘does education put too great an emphasis on extrinsic rewards?

We want pupils to develop their intrinsic motivation.

Which extrinsic factors build intrinsic motivation? For many of us at school,

our parents’ expectations, encouragement, recognition, and reinforcement over extended periods

of time helped us internalise our own intrinsic motivation.

But not all kids can rely on this from home. Some kids arrive at school without it, demotivated.

It’s an unlevel playing field within and between schools.

So should school systems compensate for that and level the playing field?

Or does this result in the worst behaved kids getting the most rewards, rewarding disruption

and disincentivising effort? Schools must avoid the perverse incentives

whereby a kid who usually doesn’t try gets a reward for trying a little, once,

and all the kids that try hard all the time get nothing.

If we give too many rewards, kids learn attendance and self-discipline only has value

for these rewards. Giving out sweets and stickers can actually diminish motivation.

Yet some schools are spending up to £30,000 on such rewards as ipads, laptops and games consoles.

Psychology

Psychological studies to demonstrate the ‘overjustification’ effect were conducted over 40 years ago in 1971 by Edward Deci. The findings were replicable: once an activity is associated with

an external reward, people are less inclined to participate in the activity without a reward present.

Deci summarises the lessons of self-determination theory: ‘Do rewards motivate people?

Absolutely. They motivate people to get rewards. When people use rewards to motivate,

that’s when they’re demotivating. The less salient they are made, the better.’

In Understanding Motivation and Emotion, Jonmarshall Reeve corroborates this:

“People use rewards expecting to gain the benefit of increasing another person’s motivation

and behaviour, but in so doing, they often incur the unintentional and hidden cost of

undermining that person’s intrinsic motivation toward the activity.”

There is a large body of research on intrinsic motivation – thanks to Laura McInerney

for signposting me to it. Here is a small sample of hundreds of articles on this,

which exposes a striking paradox:

Motivation and Education: The Self-Determination Perspective 1991

In a self-fulfilling prophecy effect, teachers’ beliefs about students’ motivation affectedtheir behaviour towards students and their students’ intrinsic motivation. 

Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation in Education 2001

Tangible rewards substantially undermine intrinsic motivation, especially for school-age children;

it’s more important to focus on how to facilitate intrinsic motivation,

ensuring tasks are optimally challenging.

The effects of teachers’ expectations about students’ motivation on teachers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviours 2006

Teachers are much more controlling with students they believed to be not motivated. 

Teachers are much more autonomy-supporting when they expect them to be intrinsically motivated.

Daniel Pink popularised this research in his book, 

Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. 

Although it is mainly aimed at the adult workplace (as much of the self-determination research

is on University-age students rather than school-age pupils), it does draw implications for schools. He asks whether ‘we’re bribing students into compliance instead of challenging them into mastery.’

Pink argues that there is a mismatch between what the science says and what schools do.

He says what really motivates us is mastery, purpose and autonomy.

Deci‘s psychological research suggests competence, relatedness and autonomy are the key ingredients, although to my knowledge these are nowhere in the research split out and measured for their relative importance.

I’d build on this and suggest that pupils develop their intrinsic motivation

through three nutrients: mastery, responsibility and relationships. 

I think responsibility is a more foundational nutrient for young primary and secondary school pupils than autonomy; that you can’t be truly autonomous until you’ve achieved responsibility

for your choices and their consequences.

So what might schools do about intrinsic motivation and its nutrients?

The moral of the story from social psychology and behavioural economics is

that we might start by limiting perverse economic incentives with unintended consequences,

instead applying social incentives. To give a small example, a signed postcard or personal phonecall home connects teachers, tutors and parents in a way that sweets or ipads do not.

The most motivating factors are getting genuinely better at something,

and getting recognised by those around us. Mastery and relationships motivate most.

Developing internal responsibility is much harder, but much more enduring than giving out prizes.

I wrote last week about the scientific evidence on developing self-control and willpower.

That research suggests that building self-esteem is a red herring, and that building self-discipline

is much more important. The conundrum is that teachers entrust more responsibility

to already motivated pupils, whilst denying motivating responsibility to those they expect

to be demotivated.

Over the next five weeks,

I’ll suggest five ideas that schools might use to find their way out of this conundrum.

https://pragmaticreform.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/rewards/

You can TCR software and engineering manuals for spontaneously recall – or pass that exam.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com          gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com               which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com         just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.