What to Look for in a Classroom: ...and Other Essays

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 team

I was lucky enough to hear Alfie Kohn speak at a school inservice, and he really got people riled up! That is high praise; he really made people think. He goes against many standard educational practices and asks us to look at what we are REALLY teaching our students.This book covers many of Kohn's "non-traditional" ideas. Some of his more compelling arguments address the ideas of giving rewards for reading (and the damage that does in the long run,) the over-inflation of grades, and the needless emphasis we put on grades and standardized testing. This book should be required reading for all teachers and educators!The bottom line is . . . what do we value most for our kids? Do we want to teach them HOW TO THINK or do we want to teach them how to regurgitate information that WE feel is important? Do we empower our kids, or do we force them into obedience and repetition? Kohn offers insightful answers to these questions.

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.

Outstanding analysis of the state of education today. I can't recommend it highly enough.

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 shou