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Amy L., California

Personally I set up activities so that everyone wins. Even with pep talks, I feel like part of being human is wanting to win. Whenever anyone gets anything “wrong”, I view it as my job as a teacher to find a way to lead them to being “right”.

Mark M., New York

This is a good point, but the solution isn’t to create win-lose situations unnecessarily, to turn something into a win-lose opportunity when what we are trying to do is ensure a victory for students at every step of the way and instill an intrinsic love of music an learning.

Carrie L., Michigan

Personally I don’t do rewards. We have things like recitals and events to boost motivation but I dislike rewards. We do a 30-day challenge once a year with a prize for all who complete it, but that’s the extent.

Pamela S., Missouri

I have taught 1st and 2nd grade for 26 years (I teach SM once a week after school). I believe we are hurting our kids when they get to be adults and haven’t yet figured out that they aren’t the best at everything. Yes, it might hurt their feelings when they’re young, but when reality hits later in life, they need therapy. There has been a lot of research on this and “everyone’s a winner” makes depressed kids. It is okay to realize that you have skills that are great and skills that are lacking and need to be developed.

On the other hand, always using rewards doesn’t motivate from within…getting them to do it for the right reason. But once in a while, using rewards will create excitement and is fun and can keep them moving down the right path. Kind of like going for ice cream…it is okay once in a while, but every meal would be harmful.

Mark M., New York

Any kind of rewards, points or candy or star stickers, etc., can be problematic. It creates an external factor that detracts from students developing intrinsic appreciation/desire to achieve a goal, and it does go beyond positive peer pressure to create genuine and not necessarily healthy competition between classmates.

Maybe it is okay sometimes, but this sort of thing always produces certain short term results. The question isn’t whether it “can be motivational”. The question is whether the long-term results, of potential demoralization and potentially making the activity attached to extrinsic rather than intrinsic motivation, are worth the short-term motivation boost.

Paula W., Michigan

My students get “pride”, not “prize”, when we do our games. We also have “learners”, not “losers”. Failure is not a bad thing, it’s an opportunity to learn. And even when they don’t get a song right, sometimes we end up finding a “beautiful oops” or a fun new way to play the song.

Mark M., New York

Interesting–when the goal is learning, not winning, then the idea of everyone’s being a winner is actually the truly best thing. If some get it right the first time, great, if some need some tweaking and multiple tries, fine. And if everyone in the end gets some prize, well, I still think there’s good evidence that external prizes tend to undermine intrinsic motivation, but I think it likely to be more “okay” in this circumstance.

Here, the idea of everyone being a winner isn’t just some pablum that denies the notion that some people are better than others. Here, the idea acknowledges that some people were better than others, and it gives the “worse” ones what they need, and everyone ends up crossing the finish line, which is really what we want in piano lessons anyway. Seems like about as good a balance as one might strike when it comes to external rewards.

Joanne D., Australia

The prize is having music as a life-long companion, isn’t it? I’ve never given out prizes and stickers as I believe their reward is that they can play the piano, and the more they put into it, the better they will be able to play. I do give every student an engraved medallion once they have attended 100 lessons.

Kym N., California

I am just talking about playing games, and most games involve winning and losing. Why would kids feel hurt so easily? Is it really necessary that everyone wins? I was just using the game to bring up the point that we need to keep our playlist alive, meaning they can play them fluently. I wanted to acknowledge those who kept a strong playlist and remind them of the importance of working hard for their playlist. I wanted to praise those who put the time into practicing the songs at home. I was using the game to help them to observe when their friends are playing because they could win a point, but they were pointing out and correcting another person’s mistakes. And that the one who was being corrected should accept and be thankful of being told about the mistakes.

Yes, someone did play a wrong chord. We acknowledged that it sounded different and pretty and it was nice, but he still needed to know the original version well.

Yes, the ones who felt “hurt” were those who didn’t practice like they should have because daddy was gone for a trip and so they only played one day. We talked about why they shouldn’t have done that.

Using charts for behavior is not good. Using charts to earn stickers to show how many days the students practice the piano and if they used the videos/audios is fine because it highlights and acknowledges their efforts. Sometimes, extrinsic rewards, (including prizes or praises) can help before the intrinsic rewards grow strong. We need to make sure that the praises have to be much more than prizes.

Gordon Harvey, Australia

I’ve never used rewards or games where anyone wins anything. Personally, I’d like music to be a realm where the idea of competition just isn’t part of the conversation. That’s not to say competition isn’t good, but music is an opportunity, not always easily available, to explore personal rewards that are not directly related to being better or worse than somebody else. Of course, you can pursue personal bests – that’s part of what the playlist is about. I think there’s also value in rewarding hard work (as opposed to achievement). To me, the key is in the music itself being the motivation, and the journey being enjoyable. Of course, that’s not going to happen all the time – that’s what the Long Term Relationship conversation is about.

That doesn’t mean a well-managed game from time to time is necessarily harmful. I also wouldn’t read too much into your particular students’ reactions. They might be claiming territory or it might be just an aberration. It might simply be an indication of just how seriously they take pleasing you.