Press Release

Rewards work better than punishments, pupil behaviour experts say

18 April 2008

Clean, well-maintained toilets and separate social areas for younger and older pupils could make school-shy children more likely to attend school, suggests new research. So could quiet study rooms, indoor games rooms and separate playground areas for calm and boisterous activities, says the study, from the Institute of Education, London.

"A school’s physical environment is important in encouraging attendance because it sends messages about whether its pupils are valued," explains Dr Lynne Rogers, co-author of the report.

Praise and prizes for good attendance as opposed to sanctions for truancy and lateness could also boost attendance and punctuality.

By the same token, rewards rather than punishments could be the way to encourage good behaviour and discourage bad because attention to any behaviour is likely to increase its frequency.

"For children who seek attention, being given it even through punishment will be rewarding," explains co-author Professor Susan Hallam, a leading authority on behaviour and attendance.

"A better solution is to ignore poor behaviour where possible and instead reward good behaviours, because this will lead to their repetition and bring about change."

Improving Behaviour and Attendance at School by Susan Hallam and Lynne Rogers is a comprehensive review of research on behaviour and attendance in the UK and other countries. It considers the causes of disaffection, explores ways that behaviour and attendance can be improved and uses case studies to illustrate examples of good practice.

Other points include:
•    The most problematic behaviour in schools is low-level disruption – talking in class, minor violations of rules and regular disruption to the smooth running of the classroom. Knives, fights and other expressions of violence, which have been blown up by the media, are relatively rare.

•    It is counterproductive for schools to label children as difficult rather than the problem behaviour. Once a child is labelled in this way, any behaviour which in another child would be perceived as trivial is viewed more seriously, and the label tends to stick with the child throughout school.

•    Policymakers should encourage society and the media to create role models who will have a positive influence on young people’s attitudes and behaviour – rather than many of today’s role models, who are frequently rewarded in terms of celebrity for “behaving badly”.

•    Parental aspirations are more important than social class in influencing a child’s engagement with education. All parents can make valuable contributions to their children’s education by helping them learn at home, discussion, support and the sharing of hopes and values.

•    Schools reporting no or few exclusions have been shown to emphasise parental involvement and to view pupils of low socio-economic status as being just as capable as those from middle-class families.

The authors recommend an emphasis on praise and reward systems, with pupils able to understand any sanctions applied and acknowledge them as fair and encouragement for students to take responsibility for their own behaviour.

Dr Rogers says: “Schools where pupils’ achievements are celebrated, however small, encourage pupils to be self-motivated and self-disciplined, reducing the need for staff to police their behaviour and attendance.”

Improving Behaviour and Attendance at School is published by Open University Press.