Rewards and punishments

"I had been subject to the delusion of one of the most absurd procedures of ordinary education. Like others I had believed that it was necessary to encourage a child by means of some exterior reward that would flatter his baser sentiments...

And I was astonished when I learned that a child who is permitted to educate himself really gives up these lower instincts.

I then urged the teachers to cease handing out the ordinary prizes and punishments, which were no longer suited to our children, and to confine themselves to directing them gently in their work."
The Discovery of the Child p 59, Chap 3

When the children were left free to follow their own interests it became increasingly clear to Montessori that they no longer required external rewards to induce them to work. They got such satisfaction from the work itself that nothing else was needed. This went against the expectations held at that time, that children would do anything to avoid work and that what they most wanted to do was to play in their own fantasy worlds. The children even sometimes refused rewards and Standing reports Montessori's astonishment that they would not take from her some sweets that she was offering (Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, p 45). The work itself became its own reward and from that time Montessori asked that her teachers respected this new quality in the children. She also realized that traditional punishments did not achieve anything and that gentle isolation from the other children, where the child in question was then an 'object of special care' was normally much more effective.

"Long experience only confirmed our first intuition. The teacher even reached a state where she felt ashamed to reward or punish children who seemed indifferent to either treatment. What was even more surprising was their frequent refusal of a reward. This marked an awakening in the conscience of a sense of dignity that had not previously existed... Eventually we gave up either punishing or rewarding the children."
The Secret of Childhood p 123, Chap 19

Quotations

"There is thus born a new child, a child that is morally superior to one who is treated as a helpless and incompetent being. This inner liberation is accompanied by a new sense of dignity. From now on a child becomes interested in his own conquests and remains indifferent to the many small external temptations which would formally have been so irresistible to his lower feelings."
The Discovery of the Child p 59, Chap 3

"As far as punishments are concerned... we placed a little table in a corner of the room and there, isolating the child, we made him sit in an armchair where he could be seen by his companions and gave him all the objects he desires. This isolation always succeeded in calming the child."
Ibid p 60, Chap 3

"For the most part an isolated child was an object of special care, as if he were sick or helpless."
Ibid p 61, Chap 3

"...teachers do not believe that children are active learners. They drive and encourage or give punishments and rewards to stimulate work. They use competition to arouse effort... But the correction of errors is often humiliating and discouraging and, since education rest on this basis, there follows a lowering in the general quality of social life."
The Absorbent Mind p 220, Chap 23

"The children became good and orderly as soon as they had learned how to work. On the other hand it was found that the naughtiness of others was in almost every case the result of 'deviations' - i.e. manifestations of disordered personalities, due to the fact that constructive energies had been diverted from their true channels."
Maria Montessori - Her Life and Work p 44, Chap II

"Furthermore it was found that no amount of punishment could set the matter right, but only the sloughing off of these 'deviations' by a new orientation of the elements of personality through spontaneously chosen work."
Ibid p 44, Chap II

"One day when the children had carried out the 'silence game' which involves great patience and self-discipline, Montessori decided to reward them each with a sweet. But to her astonishment the children refused them. It was as though they said, 'Don't spoil our lovely experience: we are still filled with delights of the spirit; don't distract us'."
Ibid p 45, Chap II

Study guide

The Discovery of the Child - Chapter 3

The Secret of Childhood - Chapter 19

Maria Montessori - Her Life and Work - Chapter II

Journal articles

Kohn, A (1998) 'Beyond Bribes and Threats: How Not to Get Control of the Classroom', NAMTA Journal, v23, n1, p60-61, Winter

Maysdosz, M (1998) 'Rewards are a Rat Trap', Montessori Life, v10, n3, p37-39, Summer

Archive resources

(1917) From Locke to Montessori, George Harrap & Co London.

Culverwell, E (1913) The Montessori Principles and Practice, G.Bell & Sons, London.

Kilpatrick, W (1915) Montessori Examined, Constable, London.