Should There Be a Classroom Store: A Philosophical Inquiry
Alex Young
Listen. There is no one size fits all approach to classroom management. A classroom store is a lot of work, a classroom reward system of any kind is a lot of work. You have to think about fairness and bias. You have to think about what skills you want to teach, what behaviours you want to reward. You have to teach budgeting skills. You have to balance intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. And there is no right answer. What works for your class this year might not work at all the next year. So what do we do? Well step one is to get to know your students and the community. Let’s say you want to have a class store, you believe in a token economy or think that there is benefit to teaching budgeting in combination with your behaviour management. Great. Here is my suggestion of how to set one up in your classroom.
Step 1: Decide what values/skills that you want students to be gaining.
Are you focused on community building? Respect for others? Responsibility?
Step 2: Generate ideas with students about behaviours that represent that value.
Ex. helping clean up without being asked, classroom jobs, not interrupting.
Step 3: Establish whether or not behaviours will always be rewarded the same.
Sameness builds consistency and trust, inconsistency builds intrinsic motivation.
Step 4: Negotiate rewards.
What are students getting for their tokens? How much are they worth? Who do they benefit?
Literature suggests that students are more motivated when working collaboratively on a goal and we want to be building reciprocal relationships so be sure to include at least some prizes that apply to more than the purchaser and/or require cooperation to purchase.
Step 5: Before implementing into practice, share the plan with parents.
Give the time to express their concerns. This is important because it enables parents to fully participate in the education of their children, one of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action.
Step 6: Explicitly teach budgeting skills.
One of the main benefits of a store reward system is the experiential learning of budgeting but students need to be taught those skills, try to stay consistent with the financial literacy content of your grade level.
Step 7: Evaluate. Reflect. Adjust. Reevaluate.
Because there is no one size fits all answer you will need to constantly consider your reward system. Who is benefiting from it? Who is not? Are students learning what you intend?
Do you have to have a classroom store? No. According to the literature the most important thing for behaviour management is trust and connection. Classroom stores are just a fun way to get students thinking about their behaviour and to experience budgeting and saving in a safe and simple environment. Focus on intangible rewards: free time, PE games, extra recess; they’re more desired and less expensive for you. Do what works for you. Just be mindful of who is on board and who may be left behind.
