PUBLISHERS WEEKLY March 7, 2014 Why I Write By Alfie Kohn Is it possible that a hint of self-congratulation adheres to the fact that we writers like to pose this question to ourselves? You don’t see a lot of people holding forth on, say, “Why I Sell Tires.” The assumption is that there’s something uniquely marvelous about the choice … Read More
The Attack on Self-Esteem
Chapter 6 in THE MYTH OF THE SPOILED CHILD (Da Capo Books, 2014) The Attack on Self-Esteem By Alfie Kohn A new idea is hatched; it catches on; it begins to spread; it inspires a flurry of books and articles, conferences and seminars. And then it fades away. The cycle is common in many fields, but I’m most familiar with … Read More
Encouraging Courage (##)
EDUCATION WEEK September 18, 2013 Encouraging Courage By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.] Education research doesn’t always get the respect it deserves, but let’s be honest: There’s already enough of it to help us decide what to do (or stop doing) on many critical issues. Likewise, there are plenty of examples of outstanding … Read More
Change by Decree (##)
AMERICAN SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL January 2013 Change by Decree By Alfie Kohn Everyone is opposed to making educators implement lousy ideas — “lousy” being defined as something the speaker doesn’t like. But it’s a lot more challenging to take a stand against — and, if you’re in a position of relative power, to refuse to engage in — the practice … Read More
Whom We Admit, What We Deny
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL Winter 2012 Whom We Admit, What We Deny The Meaning of Selective Admissions By Alfie Kohn “Send us winners and we’ll make winners out of them.” — James Moffett What does it mean when a school, having rejected a child who applied for admission, explains that he or she just “isn’t a good fit” (or “match”) … Read More
The Case Against Homework
FAMILY CIRCLE October 2012 The Case Against Homework By Alfie Kohn After spending all day in school, our children are forced to begin a second shift, with more academic assignments to be completed at home. This arrangement is rather odd when you stop to think about it, as is the fact that few of us ever do stop to … Read More
Schooling Beyond Measure (##)
EDUCATION WEEK September 19, 2012 Schooling Beyond Measure By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.] As we tend to value the results of education for their measurableness, so we tend to undervalue and at last ignore those results which are too intrinsically valuable to be measured. — Edmond G. A. Holmes, chief inspector of … Read More
The Case Against Grades (##)
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP November 2011 The Case Against Grades By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.] “I remember the first time that a grading rubric was attached to a piece of my writing….Suddenly all the joy was taken away. I was writing for a grade — I was no longer exploring for me. I want … Read More
Corridor Wit: Talking Back to Our Teachers
EDUCATION WEEK September 28, 2011 Corridor Wit Talking Back to Our Teachers By Alfie Kohn L’esprit de l’escalier (staircase wit) is a French expression for the devastating riposte, the perfect comeback, that occurs to you only after the party is over, on the way up to bed. But I, for one, spent a lot more time sitting in classrooms as a … Read More
Poor Teaching for Poor Children … in the Name of Reform (##)
EDUCATION WEEK April 27, 2011 Poor Teaching for Poor Children … in the Name of Reform By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.] Love them or hate them, the proposals collectively known as “school reform” are mostly top-down policies: divert public money to quasi-private charter schools, pit states against one another in a race … Read More