PHI DELTA KAPPAN March 1991 Caring Kids The Role of the Schools By Alfie Kohn “Education worthy of the name is essentially education of character,” the philosopher Martin Buber told a gathering of teachers in 1939.(1) In saying this, he presented a challenge more radical and unsettling than his audience may have realized. He did not mean that schools should … Read More
The Humanity of Humans
From THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF HUMAN NATURE: Altruism and Empathy in Everyday Life (Basic Books, 1990) The Humanity of Humans By Alfie Kohn I am looking at two photographs that are sitting on my desk. The first, which I clipped out of a newspaper, is of a teenage girl. She has a charming smile and shoulder-length hair, and she is … Read More
Altruism Within Egoism (Book Review)
THE NATION May 29, 1989 Altruism Within Egoism By Alfie Kohn Review of: PASSIONS WITHIN REASON: The Strategic Role of the Emotions By Robert H. Frank. Norton. 304 pp. Also discussed in this review: ECONOMICS FOR A CIVILIZED SOCIETY. By Greg Davidson and Paul Davidson. Norton. 213 pp. THE MORAL DIMENSION: Toward a New Economics. By Amitai Etzioni. Free Press. … Read More
The Case Against Competition
WORKING MOTHER September 1987 The Case Against Competition By Alfie Kohn When it comes to competition, we Americans typically recognize only two legitimate positions: enthusiastic support and qualified support. The first view holds that the more we immerse our children (and ourselves) in rivalry, the better. Competition builds character and produces excellence. The second stance admits that our society has … Read More
Existentialism Here and Now
THE GEORGIA REVIEW Summer 1984 Existentialism Here and Now By Alfie Kohn TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago, existentialism was a hot piece of intellectual property. A wide reading public was buying up such new books as William Barrett’s Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy and Viktor Frankl’s From Death Camp to Existentialism (later republished under the title Man’s Search for Meaning). American psychologists were being introduced … Read More
Rich Man, Poor Man
BOSTON PHOENIX January 17, 1984 Rich Man, Poor Man A Review of Paul Wachtel’s The Poverty of Affluence By Alfie Kohn Psychoanalyst and social critic Erich Fromm had a talent for making other thinkers angry. In part it may have been a function of his personality (B.F. Skinner in his autobiography described Fromm as an irritating know-it-all), but it is … Read More
How to Make the Least of Your College Years
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL February 1981 How to Make the Least of Your College Years By Alfie Kohn In the face of mounting evidence that college is an inherently broadening experience, it seems almost impossible to complete those four years without growing a little. Twenty-two-year-olds have been known to emerge from their chosen institution of higher learning dogged by greater perspective and … Read More