ABSTRACT
One of the five key domains in the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) initiative is motivation. Different things drive different people and using a carefully planned reward system linked to behaviour rather than to academic achievement may well be the trigger to encourage some students to behave well. Many children and young people have in-built skills necessary to enable them to be focused and motivated, even at the very earliest of ages. They realise the benefits of seeing a task through to its conclusion or abiding by the accepted guidelines and boundaries of expected behaviour. Students who are self-motivated nevertheless still need encouragement, praise and recognition. A brief look into some classrooms will invariably reveal that groups of students who do not habitually conform to the class rules or guidelines are the only students who ever receive rewards for improved behaviour.
