What to Look for in a Classroom: And Other Essays (Paperback)

by Alfie Kohn (Author) "We are in love with skills..." (more)
Key Phrases: character education programs, prosocial orientation, case against competition, New York, Phi Delta Kappan, Alfie Kohn (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Full of ideas and impossible to pigeonhole, Alfie Kohn has become an essential ingredient in educational debates, and his previous books--including No Contest: The Case Against Competition and Punished by Rewards--are a reliable barometer of his wit, pugnacity, and general contrariness. This is a collection of (mostly) previously published essays, but Kohn writes so well that these pieces remain fresh, vivid, and challenging. Few people will agree with him about everything, and many will be left with steam coming out of their ears. Kohn pulls no punches: the cases for school uniforms and School Choice programs are beneath his contempt; well-off white liberal parents are so routinely obsessed with competitive advantage ("the segregation of the gifted and talented") that their actions amount to a more polite form of racism; most critics of television are hysterics who don't know the research and haven't thought hard about what they are saying. A taste of his combat-ready style: "There is no national organization called Rich Parents Against School Reform, in part because there doesn't need to be." Kohn is essential reading, however, on the destructiveness of grading, the foolishness of mainstream ideas about motivation, and a score of other topics--especially if you disagree with him. --Richard Farr --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Renowned educator Kohn delivers an important, comprehensive collection of essays built around one central message: respect children and allow them to learn. Within these 19 pieces he discusses a variety of popular concepts. Character education, he dares announce, is usually designed "to drill students in specific behaviors rather than to engage them in deep, critical reflection about certain ways of being." Kohn abhors behavior modification of any kind, and such accepted tenets as star charts for acceptable behavior or pizza parties to entice readers are logically deflated in his attack on the whole range of extrinsic rewards. In his essay "Students Don't 'Work'AThey Learn," he urges us to encourage intrinsic motivation through the passion for knowledge. "In factory-like schools, you will often hear words like performance and achievement, rarely words like discovery or exploration or curiosity." In contrast, Kohn insists, "a learning-oriented classroom is more likely to be characterized by the thoughtful exploration of complicated issues than by a curriculum based on memorizing right answers." At the conclusion of his title essay, which ends the collection, he offers a simple chart about classroom appearance that could in itself arm parents in America with enough information to change the course of their child's education. Kohn's message, if heeded, could inspire a productive revolution in America's fatigued regime of public education.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787952834
• ISBN-13: 978-0787952839
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,241 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kohn, Decentralized!, August 14, 2000

By	D. Sidwell (River Heights, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alfie Kohn is controversial, sure, but few people really doubt (or should doubt) the validity of his ideas. Problems arise when putting these ideas into action within a system that is built on a totally different foundation. Systemic change is required. Systemic change that is not likely to occur. This is Kohn centralized.

So it is refreshing to come to this volume of essays that discuss a myriad of issues that provide teachers with both practical ideas and the theoretical background to help learners learn despite the system that is in place. It is not difficult to find Kohn dreaming of his utopian visions of education without grades to bribe or threaten learners, but he is in control here, and the essay format allows him to be much more concise in presenting his ideas (I find his other books quite repetitive).

He addresses concerns of both the learner and the teacher in these essays. He cites volumes of research that allow us to understand how learners construct knowledge. He helps us access how teachers can then facilitate their classrooms to assist learners in this knowledge construction.

I find it delightful to quote him when addressing my administrators, for he is unabashed at claiming, in manifesto-esque grandeur, what is good for students--and he always has several studies to back his claims. Cogent, forceful, and friendly, these essays reflect an intelligent scholar that is a true advocate of learners.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative ideas about Education Accessible to Lay People, February 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: What to Look for in a Classroom: ...and Other Essays (Hardcover)

Alfie Kohn is truly an iconoclast. And I mean that as high praise. Kohn has tackled such topics as competition, rewards and punishments, human nature, and the role of "discipine" in child-rearing in his writings. In each case, he has shown that the "conventional wisdom" on these topics is often not supported by careful, scientific study. Kohn is not only afraid to ask whether the emperor has no clothes -- he is also open to concluding that the answer may be "yes."

This book is a collection of essays written over the past several years. Most of the essays focus on the educational system, although some focus more generally on children, and their well-being. Here are some of the topics Kohn considers in his essays: How concerned should we be regarding the impact of T.V. on children?; What can self-esteem do for kids -- and what can't it do?; if cooperative learning is such a good idea, why is it so hard to implement?; how can giving children decision-making power in their day-to-day schooling make them better students, and better people?; what's wrong with "moral education"?; (how) can we teach kids to be caring?; etc.

Although these essays each ask different questions, they have some important things in common. First, Kohn treats all conventional wisdom with a skeptical eye. Rather than speculate on matters, Kohn carefully consults the enormous body of research on many of these questions in order to tell the reader what social scientists have learned about these matters. Second, Kohn applies the lessons learned in his other books in analyzing the problems he addresses in each of these essays. This allows the essays to hang together quite well, and give the reader a very satisfying sense of continuity while reading the book. These themes are: (1) competition is by no means "natural"; it is often self-defeating, makes people anxious and detracts from their overall sense of well-being; (2) rewards and punishments are two sides of the same coin; both are means of controlling people, and neither strategy is as effective as developing ways of capitalizing on people's instrinsic motivation; (3) we cannot simply bully kids into "doing the right thing"; we must construct situations for them which allow them to uncover and explore their values, and learn to apply them to specific situations; (4) children are better served when we teach them to think for themselves than when we train them to simply do as they are told; (5) if we want kids to act responsibly, we have give them real responsibilities.

Kohn is a very careful and rigorous thinker, who asks the right questions, and rarely jumps to conclusions without carefully thinking of the intracacies of a problem. Kohn's writing style is very accessible, and I think the book would be of interest to lay people concerned about education, practicioners of education, and academics who want a fresh perspective on educational problems.

If you like this book, you should definitely check out Kohn's other books. Kohn will challenge you to expand your horizons, and face questions you may otherwise not think of. What more can you ask for from a book than that?!?

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Do Our Classroom Practices Communicate, April 16, 2002

By	Mary Knight (Nebraska) - See all my reviews

Alfie Kohn's book, What To Look For In A Classroom...and Other Essays is a collection of nineteen essays that were previously published in professional journals and newspapers. The essays are divided into five sections: Classroom Mismanagement, American Ideology Goes to School, Unquestioned Assumptions About Children, Business as Usual, and Lessons Learned. I will review the six essays that were particularly meaningful and insightful to me in my role of elementary principal. Kohn cites research and poses questions on the skills approach, discipline, character education, Cooperative Learning, grading, and businesses' influence in education. He examines the "why" behind the practices and "what" we as educators are communicating as we support it.
In the essay titled "The Limits of Teaching Skills" Kohn discussed the preoccupation in schools with teaching isolated skills and losing sight of students' motivation. When educators focus on the skills approach, the need to preserve and enrich kids' desire to learn may be lost. Children, who are motivated and excited to learn, will acquire the skills through immersion in the topic. A good example of this is teaching children to read through the whole language or the phonetic approach. In whole language, students are naturally excited to read so when they are immersed in the printed word the skills develop naturally; as opposed to the phonetic approach, where students learn the basic phonetic skills before they interact with the literature and as a result motivation to read may be lost. The current concern in education is that the standards movement is focused on attainment of skills and not on the big picture of learning.
In "Beyond Discipline," Kohn talked about Lee Canter's Assertive Discipline program and how it and many other behavior programs dangle rewards in front of children so they act the way we as educators want them to act. When the teacher is not concerned with being in charge, students are less likely to misbehave. In classrooms where the curriculum is insufficiently engaging, student behavior problems are more evident. To help students in becoming ethical people we must help them figure out, for themselves and with each other, what to do not just merely "tell" them what to do.
In "How Not to Teach Values" Kohn talked about the isolated and detached set of skills incorporated in character education programs. He states that many educators realize that the skills approach or rote memorization is not the most effective method to teach math and reading; however, the same people believe it is effective to teach character skills in that format. Instead, through the use of literature, class meetings, and adult modeling, educators empower students to think for themselves.
The essay titled "Resistance to Cooperative Learning" reviewed the social and intellectual advantages for students when working collaboratively with others. Students learn from their peers and at the same time learn teamwork and tolerance of others. Opponents of Cooperative Learning argue for grading on the curve and the winner/loser mentality in schools, where others are seen as obstacles to success. The goal is for all students to improve and move forward in their learning, which is what the Cooperative Learning model promotes.
"Grading: The Issue Is Not Why But How" detailed the three rationales for grade-sorting, motivation, and feedback. When students are sorted by grades, is the data we are using to sort even valid? In regard to motivation, when extrinsic rewards are given, intrinsic satisfaction diminishes. When a student is promised a reward for completing an activity or attainment of a grade, he/she does not work as hard as those who were promised nothing. It is important to give feedback to students regarding their performance; however, grades focus on the success/failure component instead of clear feedback for the sake of improvement.
"The Five-Hundred Pound Gorilla" covers businesses' influence and power in education. Businesses strive to be number one, just as politically our nation strives to be number one internationally. Influence from business and political leaders is pushing schools to compete to be at the top or number one as evidenced in the standards movement. It is the "scientific management" paradigm that is evident in factories and drives the corporate view of educational standards. Kohn suggests by keeping standards narrow or specific is not a commitment to excellence but an outmoded, top down approach to controlling production. Instead, he suggests by keeping standards "as vague as possible" it allows educators the freedom to individualize and be responsive to the needs of individual learners.
In this review, I pulled in some of Kohn's main points that were meaningful to me. As an elementary principal, Kohn's research and review of the skills approach, discipline, character education, Cooperative Learning, grading, and businesses' influence gave me insight into "why" we do the things we do in schools. It is clear we have paradigms from the past that are still at work in the schools today and I found his collection of essays insightful and extremely thought provoking! It concerns me that we may be doing some things in the schools that appear beneficial for students in the areas of discipline, grading, character education; yet, when analyzing what we are actually teaching students, the practices may be detrimental to their success. Our strategies or techniques may be short-term solutions to motivate or control behavior, which may have negative long-term effects.