Educators’ Perceptions about Incentives and their Role in Students’ Learning

Incentives in learning consist of one of the most important factors in students’ effective learning. Although important research on the nature of human incentives has been conducted on the part of psychologists in the past, research on incentives in learning in school contexts is very limited. Therefore, in this paper, we will try to elaborate the most prevalent theories that have set the basis for the discussion on incentives in general but also, more specifically, on incentives in learning in a school context. Then, we will analyse the conclusions of the field-research that we conducted and which included a case-study formed through an interview. Finally, we will compare the results of our qualitative research with the ones driven by the existing literature. The basic contribution of this paper is the field research conducted on the issue of students’ incentives in senior high school education, which indicated a frequent parents’ and teachers’ anti-pedagogical approach and the suggestion of a pedagogically acceptable approach in motivating students in the Greek and international educational context.