Punished by Rewards LO14146

Scott Ott (SOTT@nkcsd.k12.mo.us)
Tue, 01 Jul 1997 10:45:16 -0500

Replying to LO14070...

Roxanne,
I have just begun to read "Punished by Rewards". I have recently read
Kohn's "Beyond Discipline; from Compliance to Community". This discussion
you are moderating is of great interest to me, since I am giving a little
talk to a group of bus drivers in August about improving the atmosphere on
the bus.
As a former driver, I have seen the price you pay for "assertive
discipline" programs which promise candy and stickers for compliance to
the absurd. I like Kohn's contention, from "Beyond Discipline" that
perhaps we (leaders, adults, teachers) need t o examine the worthiness of
the goal we're trying to manipulate people into achieving. Perhaps, for
example, the idea of cramming 65 middle-schoolers into a creaky, bumpy,
hot metal tube with bad acoustics should be reexamined. But there is great
risk in examining our own motives. Perhaps we'll decide that kids aren't
cargo, nor should they be shipped to "factory farms" (schools), but rather
should gather in smaller groups closer to home, thus virtually eliminating
the need for the school bus. Like I said : "Great Risk."
My first instinct in my talk with the drivers was to encourage
management to structure a system of "recognition" whereby drivers receive
praise and small gifts for doing exemplary work. I even thought that we
could keep it from being too "top-down manipulative" by allowing anyone to
nominate a fellow driver for recognition. But Kohn has forced me to
rethink what was initially just an idea to treat the drivers like the
important people that they are. I'm not sure what management can do now
without manipulating the drivers. I'm always open to ideas...

Grace & Peace,

Scott Ott, Public Relations Specialist
sott@nkcsd.k12.mo.us
The North Kansas City School District
http://www.nkcsd.k12.mo.us
"Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind."

-- 

Scott Ott <SOTT@nkcsd.k12.mo.us>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>