Translations of Alfie Kohn’s Books NO CONTEST: THE CASE AGAINST COMPETITION Italy (Baldini) Japan (Hosei University Press) Korea (Sannun) Germany (Beltz) Sweden (Hagaberg) Israel (Sifriat HaPoalim) Thailand (A.R. Business Press) Bulgaria (Iztok Zapad) Poland (Wydawnictwo MIND) THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF HUMAN NAUTRE Turkey (Görünmez Adam Yayincilik) PUNISHED BY REWARDS Brazil (Editora Atlas) China (The Reader’s Cornerstone) Japan (Hosei University Press) … Read More
Schooling Beyond Measure – (Book)
Schooling Beyond Measure And Other Unorthodox Essays About Education (Heinemann, 2015) In this collection of provocative articles and blog posts originally published between 2010 and 2014, Alfie Kohn challenges the conventional wisdom about topics ranging from how low-income children are taught, to whether American schools have really fallen behind those in other countries. Why, he asks, do we assume learning can ... Read More
The Grass Moment
April 23, 2015 The Grass Moment Helping Kids to Become Reflective Rebels By Alfie Kohn For the last several years I’ve been hacking away at a tangle of deeply conservative beliefs about children and parenting that have somehow come to be accepted as the conventional wisdom in our culture: that parents are too permissive and yet, at the same time, … Read More
Evidence? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Evidence!
April 7, 2015 Evidence? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Evidence! By Alfie Kohn Have you ever suspected that much of what you do for a living is an extended exercise in missing the point? I’ve spent many years challenging claims about the benefits of rewarding or praising children (when they act the way we want) and punishing them (when they … Read More
Do Students Really Need Practice Homework?
From Chapter 6 of The Homework Myth (Da Capo Press, 2006) Copyright © 2006 by Alfie Kohn Do Students Really Need Practice Homework? By Alfie Kohn Closely related to the [mostly false] notion that more time yields more learning is the belief, widely held by both parents and teachers, that homework is useful because it affords an opportunity for students … Read More
The Questions Left Unasked
The Questions Left Unasked Musings on Cynicism and Conformity Excerpted from The Homework Myth (Da Capo, 2006) One reason we don’t ask challenging questions about a topic like homework is that we don’t ask challenging questions about most things. There is a deep-rooted aversion to digging out hidden premises, pressing for justification, and opposing practices for which justification is lacking. … Read More
Incentives and Health Promotion
Incentives and Health Promotion: What Do the Data Really Say? by Alfie Kohn For a comprehensive review of research showing that rewards in general tend to diminish intrinsic interest as well as quality of performance, please see Punished by Rewards. The two specific issues on which most research in the field of health promotion has been conducted are effects on smoking … Read More
Grade Inflation Sources
Grade Inflation Sources ARE GRADES ACTUALLY GOING UP? College — Clifford Adelman, “A’s Aren’t That Easy,” New York Times, May 17, 1995, p. A19 – describes a five-year study of “the records of 21,000 students from more than 3,000 universities, community colleges, and trade schools” that found “grades actually declined slightly in the last two decades.” Original source: The New College Course … Read More
No Contest – (Book)
No Contest The Case Against Competition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986 / 1992) No Contest, which has been stirring up controversy since its publication in 1986, stands as the definitive critique of competition. Drawing from hundreds of studies, Alfie Kohn eloquently argues that our struggle to defeat each other -- at work, at school, at play, and at home -- turns ... Read More
The Brighter Side of Human Nature – (Book)
The Brighter Side of Human Nature Altruism and Empathy in Everyday Life (New York: Basic Books, 1990) We all admire the altruism of a Mother Teresa or the heroism of people who risk their lives to save a drowning child. But when it comes to our own everyday lives, we tend to regard "looking out for number one" as more ... Read More