September 24, 2021 What Makes a True Skeptic? By Alfie Kohn Imagine that you’ve spent a good part of your life vigorously defending a certain idea, only to hear that idea being invoked to justify something you find abhorrent. Perhaps you’re a strong supporter of academic freedom and a believer in considering multiple points of view — and then you … Read More
The Case Against Classroom Management . . . a Quarter-Century Later
EDUCATION WEEK September 22, 2021 The Case Against Classroom Management… a Quarter-Century Later By Alfie Kohn I often urge noneducators to ponder the versatility and resilience that have been asked of teachers during the pandemic. Just think about all that’s required to sustain relationships with, let alone educate, dozens of students who have been reduced to so many squares on … Read More
When Racism Isn’t the Only Problem
July 14, 2021 When Racism Isn’t the Only Problem By Alfie Kohn I’ve been thinking lately about policies that are multiply flawed. Drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge is a bad idea not only because it threatens wildlife but also because it exacerbates the climate crisis. Diverting taxpayer funds to religious schools undermines public education while simultaneously breaching the … Read More
The Progressive Teacher’s Role in the Classroom
May 3, 2021 The Progressive Teacher’s Role in the Classroom What Active Adult Involvement Does and Doesn’t Entail By Alfie Kohn According to Michael Harrington and many other scholars, a careful reading of Marx’s work makes it clear that he “regarded democracy as the essence of socialism.” Soviet-style Communism, by contrast, corrupted socialism “by equating it with a totalitarian denial … Read More
Foreword to Ungrading
Foreword to Ungrading 2020 Foreword Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), edited by Susan D. Blum (West Virginia University Press, 2020) By Alfie Kohn Three concepts emerged independently in different fields: quantum leaps (in particle physics), punctuated equilibrium (in evolutionary biology), and paradigm shifts (in the history of science). All converge on the revelation that … Read More
All of Us Are Smarter Than Any of Us
September 23, 2020 All of Us Are Smarter Than Any of Us By Alfie Kohn The Western conception of the person as a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic center of awareness, emotion, judgment, and action organized into a distinctive whole and set contrastively against both other such wholes and against its social and … Read More
Autism and Behaviorism
January 21, 2020 Autism and Behaviorism New Research Adds to an Already Compelling Case Against ABA By Alfie Kohn When a common practice isn’t necessary or useful even under presumably optimal conditions, it’s time to question whether that practice makes sense at all. For example, if teachers don’t need to give grades even in high school (and if eliminating grades … Read More
The Crucial Steps Are the Ones We May Have Skipped
EDUCATION WEEK September 3, 2019 The Crucial Steps Are Those We May Have Skipped By Alfie Kohn [This is an expanded version of the published article, which was given a different title.] One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my career is that the best way to respond to a question is not always to offer an answer. … Read More
The Trouble(s) with College
May 22, 2019 The Trouble(s) with College Inequities in Admissions, Inadequacies in Teaching By Alfie Kohn In Annie Hall, we’re reminded of the old joke in which a guest at a resort complains, “The food at this place is really terrible,” prompting her friend to reply, “I know! And such small portions!” Which leads me to propose the collegiate version: … Read More
Civics Education — The Safe Kind and the Subversive Kind
Edit WASHINGTON POST December 23, 2018 Civics Education — The Safe Kind and the Subversive Kind By Alfie Kohn [This is an expanded version of the published article, which was titled “How Should We Make Sure Our Kids Learn to Be Good Citizens?”] Some years ago, a group of teachers from Florida traveled to what was then the U.S.S.R. to … Read More