Talks for Educators

1. THE DEADLY EFFECTS OF “TOUGHER STANDARDS”: Challenging High-Stakes Testing and Other Impediments to Learning
2. PERFORMANCE VS. LEARNING: The Costs of Overemphasizing Achievement
3. OVERHAULING THE TRANSMISSION MODEL
4. ON BRIBING STUDENTS TO LEARN: Second Thoughts About A’s, Praise, Stickers, and Contests
5. CHOICES FOR CHILDREN: From Coercion to Community
6. FROM DEGRADING TO DE-GRADING: Basic Questions About Assessment
7. THE CASE AGAINST COMPETITION
8. TEACHING CHILDREN TO CARE
9. THE (PROGRESSIVE) SCHOOLS OUR CHILDREN DESERVE
10. CHALLENGING STUDENTS . . . AND HOW TO HAVE MORE OF THEM
11. THE HOMEWORK MYTH

Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Alfie Kohn also speaks about issues of particular concern to specific groups, such as those in the field of special education, Montessori teachers, college instructors, mentor teachers, reading specialists, school psychologists, and health educators — as well as those concerned with multiage learning, multicultural education, authentic assessment, bullying, character education, teacher compensation, retention in grade, and other issues.

Longer Workshops for Educators

• MOTIVATION FROM THE INSIDE OUT: Rethinking Rewards, Assessment, and Learning
• THE DEADLY EFFECTS OF “TOUGHER STANDARDS”
• BEYOND BRIBES AND THREATS: Realistic Alternatives to Controlling Students’ Behavior

Talks for Parents

• UNCONDITIONAL PARENTING: Beyond Bribes and Threats
• RAISING REBELS: Helping Kids to Challenge the Status Quo
• FEAR OF SPOILING: Rethinking Common Assumptions About Children (and Parenting)
• PUSHED TOO HARD: Parenting in an Achievement-Crazy Culture

Other possible lectures involve adaptations of the presentations for educators listed above — for example, what parents need to know about . . .

• homework: why there’s no benefit to making kids work what amounts to a second shift, and what we can do to reclaim family time
• motivation to learn: why grades and other rewards prove counterproductive
• progressive education: why it makes more sense than traditional instruction
• competition: why all our children ultimately lose in the race to win – at home, at school, and at play