Some suggest that students should be rewarded to improve their performance at school while others think punishment works better. There is much to be said about both reward and punishment as drivers of good academic performance, and I personally believe both tools are to be used in the school context to reach ideal learning outcomes.
Rewarding students can enhance their school performances in several ways. First and foremost, it promotes positive mental well-being, which has long been known to be critical in student motivation to study. When rewarded, whether with a letter of appreciation or free tickets to cinema, students feel their work is acknowledged and validated, boosting their confidence and self-image. As a result, they are more like to repeat their past successes, ensuring sustained academic excellence. Reward also facilitates healthy competition. When teachers organize contests with prizes in the classroom, students feel intrigued and excited to get on with learning materials. This approach is most welcome in dense subjects like History and Math, as contests make them seem fun and adventurous by instilling a drive to receive rewards for active involvement and excellence.
Punishment can be equally effective in driving good results at school. It helps maintain discipline, which is essential to consistent performance. Frivolous conduct can be deterred when some form of punishment like detention is in place. For instance, students are discouraged from idle behavior such as truancy, disregarding academic responsibilities like assignments and deadlines, and poor class engagement when their bad behavior is not tolerated. This, in turn, ensures an uninterrupted learning curve, leading to improved performance. On a more fundamental level, punishment induces fear, which can be used as a tool to remove distractions and foster better academic engagement. In other words, students become instinctually wired to perform, forgoing distractions like their phone and social media fearing the possibility of facing consequences at school such as corporal punishment or in some cases, suspension. Resultantly, they become more engaged in their studies to avoid punishment.
In conclusion, while reward improves student performance by cultivating positive mental well-being and making learning fun, punishment does so serving as a deterrent to student neglect of their studies and an incentive to become more academically engaged. For these reasons, I recommend that educators consider using both tools to aid in their teaching.