Learner and Parent Perceptions of Visible Rewards at two South African High Schools: An Inclusive Education Perspective

Abstract

The use of visible rewards presented at award ceremonies for academic achievement is a common practice in many South African schools. Although rewards are unique to each school, the use of badges, trophies, certificates, honour board listings and differentiated school uniforms are commonly accepted ways in which learners are rewarded for their academic achievements. Using a survey of 104 learner responses and 17 parent responses, this article reports on the quantitative data from the author’s mixed methods doctoral study. Experiences of academic rewards at two Gauteng high schools from the perspective of grade 11 learners and their parents are presented here. A framework, including Social Interdependence Theory (Johnson and Johnson 2009) and the Participation Framework (Florian, Black-Hawkins, and Rouse 2017) was used to interpret the responses, revealing layers of meaning that indicated the problematic nature of rewarding learners visibly and publicly within an inclusive education system. The survey data revealed that learners desired recognition for their efforts and hard work but found the schools’ reward systems restrictive in terms of recognising their efforts and talent. Parents felt more excluded from reward ceremonies than their children, and many did not believe in the benefits of public rewards; however, they did admit to feeling a sense of pride when their children won awards. Although South African schools are committed to inclusive education, the interrogation of visible rewards has uncovered a competitive environment unfeasible for inclusive education.