Seattle Times: Should Learning Be its Own Reward?

BurnThis
Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:02:03 +0000

In this competitive climate, it’s probably best to think of learning as its own reward. Kids who work hard and get good grades are no longer guaranteed to get into the schools they want so the old notion of hard work + success = reward no longer applies. I take this very personally because I had naively taught my son that if he worked hard and did well he could accomplish anything. But that’s no longer true. I was accepted to Stanford thirty years ago with a 1350 SAT and a 3.7 GPA (stupidly went to UCLA instead, so no legacy for son). He has a 1540 (old SAT) 2310 (new) and a 4.44 GPA and has a 10% chance of getting into HYP. Other kids with similar statistics (and better) are going to be disappointed that all their years of work did not have the big payoff they were expecting. I never rewarded my kids for grades, so I guess they won’t be disappointed when they aren’t rewarded in the real world either.