Honour roll hurts the pride of those who don’t make it
An Alberta elementary and junior-high school will no longer issue awards or hold ceremonies to high achievers in academics or sports.
The Catholic school sent a letter to parents saying, “Awards eventually lose their lustre to students who get them, while often hurting the self-esteem and pride of those who do not receive a certificate.”
The school cites the cites the work of Alfie Kohn, the author of “Punished by Rewards” and “No Contest: The Case Against Competition”
Kohn alleges that awards and honours for students, “ may motivate them to get rewards, but that’s likely to be at the expense of engagement with the learning itself”. He says, “Awards are even worse than rewards because an award is a reward that has been made artificially scarce, so if I get one you probably can’t.”
Kohn is also against grading students saying it’s counter-productive.
“The research shows very clearly that three things tend to happen when students are encouraged to focus on getting good grades. The first is that they become less excited about the learning itself. The second is that they tend to become less likely to think deeply … The third thing that happens is when you get kids focused on grades they pick the easiest possible task when given a choice — not because they’re lazy, because they’re rational.”
According to Kohn, “you don’t just get rid of awards assemblies because they make the kids that don’t get rewards feel bad. You get rid of awards assemblies because they’re not useful for any kids. Everyone loses in a race to win.”
”I totally believe that if a child does well, a child needs to be recognized for it.” (parent Lohini Winn)
However many parents and students disagree. Andreas Winn, 14, told reporters at the Calgary Herald newspaper that he and his parents were proud when he made the honour roll last year.
“They’re saying the group of students who can’t make the honour roll outweigh the students who can. So we should all stoop down to their level so everyone is happy”, he says.
His mother adds, “The students have nothing to work toward,” said Lo Winn. “They need incentive, they need motivation. I totally believe that if a child does well, a child needs to be recognized for it.”
Another parent, Jason Redelgack said his 14-yr-old son “hates” the school’s decision.
National Post columnist Kelly McParland suggested perhaps cancelling elections and sports championships as well suggesting for example the Stanley Cup should no longer be handed out because it hurts the feelings of Toronto Maple Leaf fans who haven’t had a (cup) parade in 46 years. The column calls St. Basil’s move “another reflection of the virus sweeping through education systems, in which parents, academics and self-styled gurus constantly seek magic new formulas that overthrow the existing order and somehow render all children as equal.”
Calgary Herald columnist Naomi Lakritz also panned the decision saying she doubts those educators would argue that everyone should be accepted into medical school, because accepting only the best and brightest “hurts the self-esteem of those who didn’t make the grade”
Last year another Calgary school, “Ecole Madeleine d’Houet Junior High School, a Calgary Catholic school that decided to do-away with an end-of-year celebrations for honour roll students and quietly hand out the honours certificates individually.
These moves come on the heels of a case last year where an Edmonton school teacher, Lyndon Dorval, went against his school’s policy of not giving out a grade of zero. He had given zeros to students who failed to hand in homework by the deadline. In a lengthy public battle the Edmonton School Board fired him saying giving a student a zero grade, doesn’t truly reflect what the student knows about the subject.
However, the school board quietly reversed the no-zero policy shortly afterward.
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