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
Dewey, Piaget, and Frosted Mini Wheats
March 8, 2021 Dewey, Piaget, and Frosted Mini Wheats By Alfie Kohn In case you are not familiar with the cereal called Shredded Wheat, it is basically hay. Many of us who are members of the species Homo sapiens, rather than, say, Equus ferus, do not find hay appetizing, even when it is pressed into small packets and sold in … 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
Fame Is the Name of the Game
October 16, 2020 Fame Is the Name of the Game A Meditation on Why So Many People Dream of Being (or Even Just Meeting) Celebrities By Alfie Kohn “The question I get asked more than any other question: ‘If you had it to do again, would you have done it?’” Trump said of running for president. “The answer is, yeah, … 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
It’s Time to Rethink Education Policy
October 15, 2019 It’s Time to Rethink Education Policy: Advice for the Democratic Presidential Candidates By Alfie Kohn More than 50 million children attend public elementary or secondary school in the U.S. The fact that so many voters spend so much time thinking about what happens to their kids in school means that the topic of education — specifically, what … 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
Deconstructing “Scaffolding”
March 6, 2019 Deconstructing “Scaffolding” By Alfie Kohn It was the late Jerome Bruner and his colleagues who first thought to invoke the field of (building) construction in creating an educational metaphor. They described the process of providing learners with temporary support for what they can’t yet do on their own as “scaffolding.”1 It’s a nifty figure of speech, and … 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
It’s Not About Behavior
EDUCATION WEEK September 5, 2018 It’s Not About Behavior By Alfie Kohn Plenty of policies and programs limit our ability to do right by children. But perhaps the most restrictive virtual straitjacket that educators face is behaviorism — a psychological theory that would have us focus exclusively on what can be seen and measured, that ignores or dismisses inner experience … Read More