A discussion on negative reinforcement.

This is likely to be controversial but I'm hoping to have some open minded discussion.

Ive been incharge of overseeing academics in an Indian school for some 20 years now. Negative reinforcement was an expected part of the classroom transaction from shaming to berating to physical abuse. My own early education has this in spadefuls.

Over the last 2 decades, there has been a converted effort to curtail negativity in schools. Most schools, though not all, have put an end to physical abuse and punishment. Some have gone a step further to introspect upon verbal transaction in class. I have been a witness to the entire shift and have some insight into its effects.

1. Cultural context: Ours is a culture riddled with violence of all sorts. By making school non violent, we provide refuge for young minds who can observe their peers in an atmosphere free from violence. However for those already hardened towards violence, the school spends an inordinate amount of time using reason as a motivator.

Earlier, when schools were violent, such kids became amenable to reason because they knew that their teachers could speak the same language of violence if they wanted. I'm not condoning it. This is just a fact. The endless complaints of teachers today about kids who cannot co-operate because their homes don't expect them to, is testimony to this. Nonetheless, by abandoning violence, casual violence among kids is on the decline and this is much needed.

2. Positive reinforcement vs Negative : Two decades ago, shame was standard currency in the schooling process. Fear and shame were regularly used as motivators. Most students acquired diligence and ambition. Metacognition took a beating for most. A few committed suicide. So we find ourselves making the shift to using positive reinforcement.

But here again we we find that in societies which are organised around shame and fear, education is the only aspect that asks for the mind to think differently. Add to this that our minds are added by dopamine, and suddenly teachers find themselves in an endless and unreawrding attempt to gamify everything. Suddenly our attention is divided between our passion to share our wonder of the world, and meeting out just the right amount of congratulations to the blasé learner in the hope of some inspiration.

I just came back from a Trek where students braved adversity and watched them grow in just 3 days. My 2 questions are:

Can the motivators of school be effective if they are different from the motivators of society?

Can we be studied in our use of negative motivators since most seem to be struggling with the use of just positivity?