63: Reimagining Education: Making Trouble as a Reflective Rebel & Questioning False Dichotomies in Education
Guest: Alfie Kohn, Author and Lecturer
In this installment of the Reimagining Education Series, Lauren is joined by prolific author and lecturer, Alfie Kohn, described in Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” Some of Alfie’s most popular books include Punished by Rewards, Unconditional Parenting, Beyond Discipline, and The Myth of the Spoiled Child.
Join us as Alfie and Lauren discuss what it means to be a reflective rebel and how we can make trouble by questioning the false dichotomies and assumptions that are so prevalent in education.
In this episode we talk about:
The false dichotomy of punishment and reward and other common false assumptions in education.
What’s wrong with education’s focus on tests, grades, and homework.
What is deep modeling and how educators and parents can embody it.
Why it’s important to see children as having autonomous desires.
That if our goal is to raise generous, caring, curious, creative, and compassionate life long learners, then our education system must change.
About Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. He is the author of twelve books and hundreds of articles. The most recent of his 14 books are SCHOOLING BEYOND MEASURE…And Other Unorthodox Essays About Education (2015) and THE MYTH OF THE SPOILED CHILD: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Children and Parenting (2014). Of his earlier titles, the best known are PUNISHED BY REWARDS (1993), NO CONTEST: The Case Against Competition (1986), UNCONDITIONAL PARENTING (2005), and THE SCHOOLS OUR CHILDREN DESERVE (1999).
Kohn has been described in Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” His criticisms of competition and rewards have helped to shape the thinking of educators — as well as parents and managers — across the country and abroad. Kohn has been featured on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including the “Today” show and two appearances on “Oprah”; he has been profiled in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, while his work has been described and debated in many other leading publications.
Kohn lectures widely at universities and to school faculties, parent groups, and corporations. In addition to speaking at staff development seminars and keynoting national education conferences on a regular basis, he conducts workshops for teachers and administrators on various topics.
Kohn, the father of two grown children, lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org.
Links so you can explore more:
For more on Alfie and his spectacular works, visit www.alfiekohn.org
If you have any questions about this episode’s topic feel free to email Lauren at lauren@soulpathparenting.com or join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram!
For more episodes like this one, check out our Reimagining Education Series!