Tuition Scholarships

[m1469]

I am thinking about ways to further motivate my kids and their families toward better/more practice.  Something that I have just recently been considering is to have a kind of revolving "tuition scholarship" that is awarded to any two students, each month.  This scholarship will be half off (or perhaps fully off for just one student) tution fees for each student, for the month it is awarded towards.

These scholarships will not automatically be awarded each month, unless they have been "earned."  There will be specific guidelines to help the student and their families know what it takes to earn these scholarships, and these expectations must be fulfilled. 

This is a brand new, baby idea for me still.  I will be thinking through what I can possibly think through of it at this point, having no experience whatsoever with it.  But, I am wondering if anybody else has experience with a system like this ?  If so, can you share your thoughts/experiences with it ? 

Also, even if you have no experience with it, what are the pros and cons that you think would accompany a system like this one ?


Thanks,
m1469

[amanfang]

What if you have (for example) 6 students who meet the criteria in a month? How will you decide who gets it?  Furthermore, what if you choose one, and the next month he does the same amount of work (or more), but you choose someone else?  Would that not then be de-motivating? 

Scholarships I think are for students with financial need who are willing to work hard, and should be reserved for special cases.

[m1469]

What if you have (for example) 6 students who meet the criteria in a month? How will you decide who gets it?  Furthermore, what if you choose one, and the next month he does the same amount of work (or more), but you choose someone else?  Would that not then be de-motivating?

Just quickly because I am in a hurry ...

Yes, I have thought about this.  A couple of solutions are as follows :

One of the criteria may be that they will have had to have met these particular criterias for __ months, consecutively (maybe 3 ?).  And/or, I may put a limit on how many months per year, or how many months consecutively, any one student can be awarded these scholarships.

Also, one of the criteria may be that they do something "beyond" the spelled out criteria ...

Another thing is that I would couple this program with another program I may be starting called "piano bucks"  .  I won't explain all of that at the moment, as I am still working that out, too.  But, they will automatically be awarded *something* desirable in the event that they actually do meet all of the criteria that was spelled out.

We will go in with an understanding that they *may* not be awarded this scholarship every month, even if they fill all of the requirements.  That is going to significantly change the work ethic right there, and perhaps limit already just whom will be interested in participating.

Scholarships I think are for students with financial need who are willing to work hard, and should be reserved for special cases.

Well, this is definitely not how "the real world" works.  Anybody who works hard, whether they have money or not, can earn a scholarship to a University, etc..  It would only benefit the individual to learn this early, through their experience within my studio.


Keep the questions and comments coming !  These are very helpful !

[pianistimo]

because it would impact you financially - and you are one person relying on a fixed income (at least for the piano lessons) - i wouldn't.  but, if you belonged to a music school - it might be less burden to you personally.

why not do smaller prizes.  keep the 'piano bucks' idea - and award pencils and stuff that don't cost much (although, i'm wondering lately if only the dollar store is where you can find this without hurting the budget, too).

do you ever sew, mayla?  i was tempted to just make some gifts, too, for around the holidays and award them to students.  for instance, you can make music bags (burlap -or heavy fabric) and help students become organized by making a place for pencils, etc.

or, if you know a student really wants to go to a concert - make a date for everyone to go - and if they've practiced well - that they get a discount on the ticket (you'll already get one for your students probably anyways).

[Bob]

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[kriskicksass]

My first teacher awarded 'points' for a good lesson. You could win a whole point if you had a great lesson, or fractions of a point for less good lessons. I remember once I even got an eighth of a point! (It was a sticker with an eighth note on it, no less  ). When you got to 20 points, you won a statuette of a composer.

You don't have to do the same thing, but it's a good motivator that's also limited in the cost to you. No matter how hard a student works, they can only earn a prize every 20 lessons, which means that you won't constantly be spending your money on prizes.

If I were you, I would do that way before just giving away lessons. Save the free lessons for when there are errors in your billing/payments.

[Bob]

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[m1469]

because it would impact you financially - and you are one person relying on a fixed income (at least for the piano lessons) - i wouldn't.  but, if you belonged to a music school - it might be less burden to you personally.

Well, this is true to some extent, but if I awarded the same amount every month, I would still have an income that I could, more or less, count on.  Plus, I may raise the rates a bit to compensate .

why not do smaller prizes.  keep the 'piano bucks' idea - and award pencils and stuff that don't cost much (although, i'm wondering lately if only the dollar store is where you can find this without hurting the budget, too).

Yeah, I am in debate.  The kids love the piano bucks idea, of course, and that is why I want to do it -- I want to have them get excited about something that they already know and love (similar to a money system), but, I don't know.

do you ever sew, mayla?  i was tempted to just make some gifts, too, for around the holidays and award them to students.  for instance, you can make music bags (burlap -or heavy fabric) and help students become organized by making a place for pencils, etc.

No, I don't sew.  I used to pretend like I could and would make doll clothes and hair ties and things ... but, I haven't even tried in a long time.  Thanks for the suggestions .

[m1469]

I could see something about "tuition scholarship" if a family is finanacially strapped and the kid is really talented.

But you're also talking about throwing away that amount of money each month.  It will add up.  Two a month is 24 a year.  That could a week or so of teaching you'd be doing with no financial payback.  I would pass on that.

I'm thinking they're paying you.  If they get a lot better, then they and you have done your job.  It doesn't mean they've earned a free pass.  You can always highlight their achievements in other ways -- harder pieces on the recital, a medal, etc.  Give them a title.   Make an announcement at the concert of how proud you are of how much they've accomplished during the past year.  "And now here is the kid I've been praising just now, who now has a lot more pressure to play really well because of all the priase I just heaped on him...."

Yes, I understand all of this.  However, in the long(ish) run, to have a thriving studio where everybody is motivated and reaching higher and higher every month is something WAY beyond financial return, to me.  And, that is the idea -- to raise the bar a bit.  But, maybe I need to just keep thinking of ways to do this without these extra sorts of things ... I am often in limbo about that.

Thanks for your comments .

[m1469]

My first teacher awarded 'points' for a good lesson. You could win a whole point if you had a great lesson, or fractions of a point for less good lessons. I remember once I even got an eighth of a point! (It was a sticker with an eighth note on it, no less  ). When you got to 20 points, you won a statuette of a composer.

You don't have to do the same thing, but it's a good motivator that's also limited in the cost to you. No matter how hard a student works, they can only earn a prize every 20 lessons, which means that you won't constantly be spending your money on prizes.

If I were you, I would do that way before just giving away lessons. Save the free lessons for when there are errors in your billing/payments.

Yeah, I am also thinking about some kind of points system.  Thanks for sharing your experience .

[Bob]

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[m1469]

I just don't think a kid is going to be motivated by getting an extra lesson.  They don't really get anything.  The parents save money on that lesson.

Yeah, the kid is not going to be, but the parents will be motivated to remind them to practice -- and this way, everybody is motivated  .  The kid will automatically get some piano bucks, and that ought to be motivating for them individually.

And then it pits students against each other.  They would be competing against each other.

I could see giving out a small prize or the title "most practice minutes this week" or something like that.

Well, "most practice minutes this week" is still pitting them against each other.  But, more than that, they are not going to get anything for practicing, besides the beauty of learning the music -- what they would earn any kind of reward for would be completing something that requires practice in order to complete it satisfactorily  .  Plus, I don't believe in practice cards recording days and times -- not for kids who are just learning how and expecting some kind of reward for filling it in, I think it's just too tempting to lie and not easy to judge properly for me.

I like the points system idea a lot better.  It pushes the students on their own, against themself.  It is extrinsic though.

 

Yes, the idea would be to somehow better themselves just to better themselves; develop a strong work-ethic.  However, whether or not they are rewarded with a point vs something else doesn't really mean that much.  The scholarship would be something like a lottery -- and the only way their name can be entered is if they complete certain criteria.  Everybody has to complete it, and everybody who does gets entered into the lottery.... maybe (I just thought of that and kind of like it  ).

Anyway, I am very much not sure about this still and have not mentioned a word of it to any of my students.

[Bob]

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[jinfiesto]

Hahaha. It'd be a good idea. You're going to end up with asian parents beating their children into practicing more... Especially if you put up that wall of achievement.... hahahaha. I'm asian... This is not offensive... Bahahaha.