A Study On The Educational Nature Of Teachers’ Rewarding Behavior

Rewards,as one of the common educational tools by teachers,are often an overlooked ‘bright side’.The relationship between extrinsic rewards and student development has always been controversial in academia.To make the most of the educational value of rewards and clarify the relationship between rewards and student development,this study focuses on the rewarding behavior of teachers in daily educational activities and explores how teachers’ rewarding behavior promotes students’ independent and comprehensive development.This study uses case study methodology and collects data through observation and interviews.Over a period of four months,53 valid reward cases from grades 6 and 7 in a Shanghai middle school were investigated.The research found that rewards are a common and important part of teachers’ educational activities.Teachers’ rewarding behaviors are not only frequent but also diverse in types.More importantly,rewards have unique educational values that distinguish them from other educational tools,as they can give students a sense of pleasure,security,belonging and self-efficacy,as well as provide guidance for future development.However,there are often cognitive biases and usage pitfalls about the use of rewards in daily educational life: in the aspect of reward direction,rewards often exhibit narrow tendencies such as one-sidedness,instrumentalism,rigidity,and generalization;in the process of implementation,they are frequently distorted into "decorative highlights" of teaching techniques,serving as "sugar-coated bullets" to entice students,or as alternative punishment methods to manipulate them;in terms of effects,teachers’ rewarding behaviors can lead to misalignment between teachers’ intentions and students’ perceptions,disconnection between rewards and students’ needs,transfer of teachers’ power causing students to gain a sense of privilege,and confusion in students as they lose their subjective will to cater to the teacher.In response to these problems,this paper attempts to suggest several constructive corrective measures.Firstly,in order to make the reward point to the students’ selfdetermined,harmonious,and healthy development,teachers need to recognise the necessity of students’ comprehensive development,set diverse rewards to meet developmental needs;they should attach equal importance to process and results,redefining the criteria and intentions of rewards;and they ought to ensure that reward justice is to enable talented personnel’s value to be fully respected and realized.Secondly,in order to correct the use of the reward,teachers should clarify the role of rewards,making them a catalyst for educational activities;they should grasp the essence of rewards,stimulating students’ intrinsic growth potential;they should play a catalytic role in respecting and supporting students’ self-development and selfrealization.Finally,in order to ensure the effective implementation of reward outcomes,teachers employ communication to reach consensus between teachers and students,establish connections between rewards and students’ needs,and guide students in establishing an autonomous development-oriented reward value system.In conclusion,rewards should not become a utilitarian,superficial,mechanical,or one-sided educational tool but should instead aim at the fundamental goal of students’ self-development,encompassing a conscious,proactive reflection and appreciationbased experience,and ultimately aspire to the ideal of "rewarding for no longer rewarding" in the future.