The Illusion of Discovery

October 1, 2014 The Illusion of Discovery Student-Centered on the Surface, Teacher-Centered Down Below By Alfie Kohn It’s not hard to recognize an utterly traditional classroom. If the teaching is heavily scripted and focused mostly on getting students to memorize right answers and practice skills by rote; if those students are sitting in rows, hunched over worksheets or being lectured … Read More

Perfect, It Turns Out, Is What Practice Doesn’t Make (##)

July 25, 2014 Perfect, It Turns Out, Is What Practice Doesn’t Make By Alfie Kohn We’ve long been eager to believe that mastery of a skill is primarily the result of how much effort one has put in. Extensive practice “is probably the most reasonable explanation we have today not only for success in any line, but even for genius,” … Read More

The Trouble With Calls For Universal “High-Quality” Pre-K (##)

February 1, 2014 The Trouble With Calls For Universal “High-Quality” Pre-K By Alfie Kohn Universal pre-kindergarten education finally seems to be gathering momentum. President Obama highlighted the issue in his 2013 State of the Union address and then mentioned it again in this year’s. Numerous states and cities are launching or expanding early-education initiatives, and New York City Mayor Bill … Read More

A Dozen Essential Guidelines for Educators (##)

October 29, 2013  A Dozen Essential Guidelines for Educators By Alfie Kohn To create the schools our children deserve, it’s probably not necessary to devise specific policies and practices for every occasion. Rather, these will follow logically from a few core principles that we devise together. Here’s a sample list of such principles, intended to start a conversation among educators, parents, and … Read More

Five Bad Education Assumptions the Media Keeps Recycling

August 29, 2013 Five Bad Education Assumptions the Media Keeps Recycling By Alfie Kohn It very rarely happens that the cover of The New York Times Book Review, which represents some of the most prestigious intellectual real estate in the United States, is given over to a discussion about education.  When that does happen, as it did last Sunday, it becomes … Read More

“We’re Number Umpteenth!”: The Myth Of Lagging U.S. Schools (##)

May 3, 2013 “We’re Number Umpteenth!” The Myth Of Lagging U.S. Schools By Alfie Kohn Beliefs that are debatable or even patently false may be repeated so often that at some point they come to be accepted as fact.  We seem to have crossed that threshold with the claim that U.S. schools are significantly worse than those in most other … Read More

Is Parent Involvement In School Really Useful? (##)

February 6, 2013 Is Parent Involvement In School Really Useful? By Alfie Kohn When people who write about agriculture or dentistry tackle the important issues in their respective fields, do they try to shake things up?  Are they feisty and willing to peer beneath the surface of whatever topic they’re exploring?  I have no idea.  But I do know that … Read More

Why Do We Punish Children?

January 2013  Why Do We Punish Children? By Alfie Kohn Adapted from a four-part public exchange with Deborah Meier, beginning in January 2013, that appeared on Education Week‘s “Bridging Differences” blog. Whenever it appears that I disagree with someone, I like to begin by figuring out where we’ve parted company. Is our disagreement substantive or just a function of how … Read More

Homework: An Unnecessary Evil? … Surprising Findings From New Research (##)

November 26, 2012 Homework An unnecessary evil? … Surprising Findings From New Research By Alfie Kohn A new study on the academic effects of homework offers not only some intriguing results but also a lesson on how to read a study — and a reminder of the importance of doing just that:  reading studies (carefully) rather than relying on summaries … Read More