Chapter 12 in What to Look for in a Classroom . . . and Other Essays (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998) Television and Children ReViewing the Evidence By Alfie Kohn [originally written in 1990-1991] When an extraordinary new technology is about to arrive, there is room for rapture or dread but nothing in between. Television, E.B. White declared shortly before regular national … Read More
Introduction to What to Look for in a Classroom … and Other Essays
San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 1998 Introduction to What to Look for in a Classroom … and Other Essays By Alfie Kohn From 1979 until 1985, I taught a course on existentialism to high school students. It was not my only teaching experience but it was far and away my favorite. Between terms, I fine-tuned the reading list and perfected the lectures, looking … Read More
Only for My Kid: How Privileged Parents Undermine School Reform (*)
PHI DELTA KAPPAN April 1998 Only for My Kid How Privileged Parents Undermine School Reform By Alfie Kohn What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy. — John Dewey, School and Society Mike McClaren, … Read More
Challenging Behaviorist Dogma
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS REVIEW March/April 1998 Challenging Behaviorist Dogma: Myths About Money and Motivation By Alfie Kohn The idea that dangling money and other goodies in front of people will “motivate” them to work harder is the conventional wisdom in our society, and particularly among compensation specialists. Those of us who have challenged the Skinnerian orthodoxy that grounds this conviction … Read More
Students Don’t “Work”–They Learn (*)
EDUCATION WEEK September 3, 1997 Students Don’t “Work”–They Learn By Alfie Kohn September is a new beginning, a time for fresh starts. Consider, then, a resolution that you and your colleagues might make for this school year: From now on, we will stop referring to what students do in school as “work.” Importing the nomenclature of the workplace is … Read More
The Limits of Teaching Skills (*)
REACHING TODAY’S YOUTH Summer 1997 The Limits of Teaching Skills By Alfie Kohn We are in love with skills. Not any specific skill, mind you, but the very idea that children’s problems can be remedied by teaching them skills. The model is so simple and familiar to us that we do not even think of it as a model. It … Read More
How Not to Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education (*)
PHI DELTA KAPPAN February 1997 How Not to Teach Values A Critical Look at Character Education By Alfie Kohn Teachers and schools tend to mistake good behavior for good character. What they prize is docility, suggestibility; the child who will do what he is told; or even better, the child who will do what is wanted without even having to … Read More
Beyond Discipline (*)
EDUCATION WEEK November 20, 1996 Beyond Discipline By Alfie Kohn A few years ago, I received a letter from a woman who was working on a book about a progressive educator. She said she was considering devoting a chapter of her manuscript to a discussion of a program called Assertive Discipline, which was at best only indirectly related to her … Read More
The Trouble with School Uniforms (*)
BOSTON GLOBE October 2, 1996 The Trouble with School Uniforms By Alfie Kohn Satire became obsolete, Tom Lehrer remarked, on the day that Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. We might add that the redundancy of satire is confirmed every time people earnestly propose ideas like this one: The best way to help children learn – or to improve … Read More
What to Look for in a Classroom (*)
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP September 1996 What to Look for in a Classroom By Alfie Kohn An earlier version of this chart was published in the September 1996 issue of Educational Leadership, and reprinted as the title essay in the anthology What to Look for in a Classroom…And Other Essays. This revised version appeared as Appendix B of The Schools Our Children Deserve. Copyright … Read More