From UNCONDITIONAL PARENTING: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason (Atria, 2005) Punitive Damages By Alfie Kohn … To punish kids, very simply, is to make something unpleasant happen to them — or prevent them from experiencing something pleasant – usually with the goal of changing their future behavior. The punisher makes them suffer, in other words, to … Read More
Getting Hit on the Head Lessons (#)
EDUCATION WEEK September 7, 2005 Getting Hit on the Head Lessons Justifying Bad Educational Practices as Preparation for More of the Same By Alfie Kohn Suppose you have a negative reaction to a certain educational practice but you’re unable to come up with any good reasons to justify your opposition. All is not lost: You can always play the “human … Read More
The Trouble with Pure Freedom: A Case for Active Adult Involvement in Progressive Education
Alternative Education Resource Organization [AERO] Conference Keynote address, 2005 The Trouble with Pure Freedom A Case for Active Adult Involvement in Progressive Education By Alfie Kohn This transcript of Kohn’s talk was published in The Directory of Democratic Education, 2nd ed., edited by Dana M. Bennis and Isaac R. Graves. A video of the lecture is available here. In his opening comments, which … Read More
The (Progressive) Schools Our Children Deserve
SCHOOLS: Studies in Education Fall 2005 The (Progressive) Schools Our Children Deserve By Alfie Kohn [This is a transcript of the keynote address for a conference on progressive education sponsored by the School in Rose Valley and held at Swarthmore College on October 7, 2004.] I’m delighted to be with what I will presumptuously assume is a friendly crowd, such … Read More
Unconditional Teaching (#)
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP September 2005 Unconditional Teaching By Alfie Kohn Has there even been a wider, or more offensive, gap between educational rhetoric and reality than that which defines the current accountability fad? The stirring sound bites waft through the air: higher expectations … world-class standards … raising the bar … no child left behind. Meanwhile, educators and students down on … Read More
Atrocious Advice from “Supernanny” (#)
THE NATION May 23, 2005 Atrocious Advice from “Supernanny” By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article, which was titled “Supernanny State.”] Pour lire cet article en français, cliquer ici. Para ler esse artigo em Português, clique aqui A despot welcomes a riot. Disorder provides an excuse to rescind liberties in order to restore calm. There are … Read More
Challenging Students . . . And How to Have More of Them (#)
PHI DELTA KAPPAN November 2004 Challenging Students . . . And How to Have More of Them By Alfie Kohn Learning by doing, a common shorthand for the idea that active participation helps students to understand ideas or acquire skills, is an established principle of progressive education. Much less attention, however, has been paid to the complementary possibility that teachers … Read More
Safety from the Inside Out (#)
EDUCATIONAL HORIZONS Fall 2004 Safety from the Inside Out Rethinking Traditional Approaches By Alfie Kohn For many people, the idea of safety in an educational context brings to mind the problem of school violence, and specifically the string of shootings at schools across the country in recent years. Let’s begin, then, by noting that the coverage of these events has … Read More
Test Today, Privatize Tomorrow
PHI DELTA KAPPAN April 2004 Test Today, Privatize Tomorrow Using Accountability to “Reform” Public Schools to Death By Alfie Kohn I just about fell off my desk chair the other day when I came across my own name in an essay by a conservative economist who specializes in educational issues. The reason for my astonishment is that I was described … Read More
Rethinking Character Education: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom about Camp and Kids
CAMPING MAGAZINE September/October 2003 Rethinking Character Education: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Camping & Kids By Alfie Kohn A substantial number of people believe that camps can do more than provide an opportunity to have fun: They can also promote children’s social and moral growth. This explains the growing interest among American Camping Association members in the movement known as … Read More