And The Winner Is...

The thought of the annual awards ceremony made me feel nervous and anxious. As the days passed, I found myself filled with thoughts of how to avoid going. Last year it was really embarrassing to have to walk on stage in front of my peers. The evening of the ceremony, as I waited in line, my palms sweated, my pulse quickened and I was barely able to think straight.  When my name was finally called I walked out on stage and felt absolute terror as the many eyes of my peers press down on me. In what seemed like an eternity, I walked to center stage, accepted my award and returned to my seat as quickly as possible. I then sat and wondered how many other students felt the same way.

This scenario has played out in high schools many times over.  Are we doing the right thing? Is the giving of subject awards and honour roll recognition achieving what we want it to achieve in our schools? Are our students driven to achieve at a greater level because they value being recognized on an honour roll or winning a department award? This question is being bantered around educational circles more than ever these days. Was there ever a time when we didn’t give out awards? Is this discussion just another swing of the educational pendulum?

In discussion with some educators and students, we hear that awards ceremonies are often disengaging and that fewer and fewer students want to attend. The perception is that the same students get recognized every year and often don’t want the repeat recognition. Why is it not cool to be recognized at school?  What’s driving this need to continue holding awards ceremonies? Where is the research that states awards based on merit lead to success? We know that high achieving students often work harder for extrinsic motivation. If all students acted based on such motivation, we would see fierce competition in every class.  Just imagine a class where all students fought for the mantle of top student.

If we apply the 21^st century model of education where the belief is that every child is truly good at something, then shouldn’t we be celebrating every child for who they are and rewarding their efforts for the work they do. For some students it requires a great amount of effort to make the honour roll but for others, it requires very little effort.  The same applies to athletic awards.  For most athletes, athletic ability is inherent. If this is true, then is it right to award a top athlete certificate to someone based on their inherent ability? Shouldn’t the top athlete award go to the student who works and hustles the most and should the top student award go to the student who puts forth the greatest effort? It seems to us that most schools offer their effort awards as consolation awards.

As we move forward down the road of defining our new educational model, we should also take time to review the manner in which we reward our students. Let’s make sure that the work habit and effort based awards are more than just consolation prizes. In order to do this, the rubric we use to measure effort and work habits must be calibrated effectively and everyone must use it. The development of an all-encompassing work habit assessment tool will reward all students who put forth effort and show growth regardless of baseline. The more we value work habits, the more effect it will have on our students.  Currently most universities don’t take into consideration the value of work habits. This needs to change. If high schools place greater value in work habits, more students will work harder. If you find school difficult, what incentive is there for you to work hard to get a C or C+? You work really hard get the C or C+ and still you’re the one who sits in the honor roll ceremony watching the same kids get their awards year after year. 

Identify the stakeholders…       Trust the process…      Trust the people…