Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohnis an American author and lecturer in the areas of education, parenting, and human behavior. He is a proponent of progressive education and has offered critiques of many traditional aspects of parenting, managing, and American society more generally, drawing in each case from social science research...
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth15 October 1957
constantly control gold good parent spanking sticker ways whether
We think of ways that we can control them, whether it be with a spanking or a gold sticker or a parent constantly saying, 'Good job, good job, good job.'
community equally problems punishment rather solving striking
What is equally striking to me is this ... there isn't a sense of a community solving problems together, rather there's punishment for aberrant individuals.
commitment punishment shoes
If I offered you a thousand dollars to take off your shoes, you'd very likely accept--and then I could triumphantly announce that 'rewards work.' But as with punishments, they can never help someone develop a *commitment* to a task or action, a reason to keep doing it when there's no longer a payoff.
teaching taught students
Saying you taught it but the student didn't learn it is like saying you sold it but the customer didn't buy it.
teacher moving kids
Each time I visit such a classroom, where the teacher is more interested in creating a democratic community than in maintaining her position of authority, I’m convinced all over again that moving away from consequences and rewards isn’t just realistic - it’s the best way to help kids grow into good learners and good people.
teacher talking listening
In outstanding classrooms, teachers do more listening than talking, and students do more talking than listening. Terrific teachers often have teeth marks on their tongues.
growing-up unconditional-love resent-you
You have to give them unconditional love. They need to know that even if they screw up, you love them. You don't want them to grow up and resent you or, even worse, parent the way you parented them.
teacher classroom educator
Educators remind us that what counts in a classroom is not what the teacher teaches; it’s what the learner learns.
achievement focus important
A preoccupation with achievement is not only different from, but often detrimental to, a focus on learning. Thoughts and emotions while performing an action are more important in determining subsequent engagement than the actual outcome of that action.
punishment moral-growth erode
Punishments erode relationships and moral growth.
growing-up should-have democracy
Students should not only be trained to live in a democracy when they grow up; they should have the chance to live in one today.
smart thinking challenges
What is wrong with encouraging students to put "how well they're doing" ahead of "what they're doing." An impressive and growing body of research suggests that this emphasis (1) undermines students' interest in learning, (2) makes failure seem overwhelming, (3) leads students to avoid challenging themselves, (4) reduces the quality of learning, and (5) invites students to think about how smart they are instead of how hard they tried.
evaluation grades rating
Grades are a subjective rating masquerading as an objective evaluation.
two numbers trying
Trying to be number one and trying to do a task well are two different things.