Students perform better in school when they are rewarded rather than punished. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

People believe that pupils have a better performance when they receive a reward rather than a punishment. In my opinion, having both reward and punishment will boost more aspects, beside students’ gain in learning process.

On the one hand, rewarding the learners is considered good for their academic development. Indeed, they will think their encouragement has some sorts of valuable results and the students will spend more efforts in order to have more achievements not only for the lessons, but also for the whole process of learning. And the operant conditioning’s values in Behaviorism have proven all of the ideas above.

On the other hand, punishment in an moderate and acceptable way will act as a tool for the educators to have their pupils realize the errors they have made and to prevent the mistakes happen again. Beside, giving slightly heavier punishments will also reinforce the position, as well as the status of teachers in the class, or even teach the students a memorable lesson in the stage of their mental development. For example, in the circumstances that rewarding will probably create a bad habit for a student. Punishment like push-ups will be more effective.

In conclusion, rewards and punishments are actually the best ways to motivate pupils if they are used in a sensible and educative way.