EDUCATION WEEK September 27, 2023 The Sneaky Conservatism of Ed Tech By Alfie Kohn Have you ever noticed that people in positions of power who earnestly exhort us to “think outside the box” are likely to resist any effort to change the box itself? Take the folks in Silicon Valley. Their basic mission, as technology critic Evgeny Morozov argued recently, … Read More
Why Feedback Often Doesn’t Help
EDUCATION WEEK September 21, 2022 Why Feedback Often Doesn’t Help By Alfie Kohn [This is an expanded version of the published article, which was given a different title.] A lot of people make a living by offering advice about how teachers should give feedback to students — or how administrators should give feedback to teachers. Unfortunately, a body of compelling … Read More
Cooperative Games: Discovering How Much Fun Competition ISN’T
Foreword to Cooperative Games 2022 Cooperative Games Discovering How Much Fun Competition Isn’t By Alfie Kohn [This essay is adapted from the Foreword to Cooperative Games in Education by Suzanne Lyons (Teachers College Press, 2022)] The reassuring bromide that “there’s no such thing as a stupid question” can be easily refuted by spending a few minutes with a standardized … Read More
The Case Against Classroom Management . . . a Quarter-Century Later
EDUCATION WEEK September 22, 2021 The Case Against Classroom Management… a Quarter-Century Later By Alfie Kohn I often urge noneducators to ponder the versatility and resilience that have been asked of teachers during the pandemic. Just think about all that’s required to sustain relationships with, let alone educate, dozens of students who have been reduced to so many squares on … Read More
Foreword to Ungrading
Foreword to Ungrading 2020 Foreword Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), edited by Susan D. Blum (West Virginia University Press, 2020) By Alfie Kohn Three concepts emerged independently in different fields: quantum leaps (in particle physics), punctuated equilibrium (in evolutionary biology), and paradigm shifts (in the history of science). All converge on the revelation that … Read More
Is Learning “Lost” When Kids Are Out of School?
BOSTON GLOBE September 6, 2020 Is Learning “Lost” When Kids Are Out of School? By Alfie Kohn Para leer este artículo en Español, haga clic aquí. Anguish and even anger are entirely appropriate reactions to the fact that Covid-19 infection rates are still too high in most areas to permit the safe reopening of schools. Not only do many of … Read More
The Pandemic Pivot
EDUCATION WEEK August 19, 2020 The Pandemic Pivot Turning Temporary Changes into Lasting Reform By Alfie Kohn You know you really should walk or bike more often, but the car is just so darned convenient. Then one day it breaks down and the replacement part won’t be available for quite awhile. The fates have conspired to get you some much-needed … Read More
Autism and Behaviorism
January 21, 2020 Autism and Behaviorism New Research Adds to an Already Compelling Case Against ABA By Alfie Kohn When a common practice isn’t necessary or useful even under presumably optimal conditions, it’s time to question whether that practice makes sense at all. For example, if teachers don’t need to give grades even in high school (and if eliminating grades … Read More
It’s Time to Rethink Education Policy
October 15, 2019 It’s Time to Rethink Education Policy: Advice for the Democratic Presidential Candidates By Alfie Kohn More than 50 million children attend public elementary or secondary school in the U.S. The fact that so many voters spend so much time thinking about what happens to their kids in school means that the topic of education — specifically, what … Read More
The Crucial Steps Are the Ones We May Have Skipped
EDUCATION WEEK September 3, 2019 The Crucial Steps Are Those We May Have Skipped By Alfie Kohn [This is an expanded version of the published article, which was given a different title.] One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my career is that the best way to respond to a question is not always to offer an answer. … Read More