✨ Featured Offer
Used, Like New
$10.00
List Price: $15.00
🚚
See all 5 offers from $6.47 FREE standard delivery by: 04 Apr 2026
Overview
Mind-opening writing on what kids need from school, from one of education's most outspoken voices
Arguing that our schools are currently in the grip of a "cult of rigor"-a confusion of harder with better that threatens to banish both joy and meaningful intellectual inquiry from our classrooms-Alfie Kohn issues a stirring call to rethink our priorities and reconsider our practices.
Kohn's latest wide-ranging collection of writings will add to his reputation as one of the most incisive thinkers in the field, who questions the assumptions too often taken for granted in discussions about education and human behavior.
In nineteen recently published essays-and in a substantive introduction, new for this volume-Kohn repeatedly invites us to think more deeply about the conventional wisdom. Is self-discipline always desirable? he asks, citing surprising evidence to the contrary. Does academic cheating necessarily indicate a moral failing? Might inspirational posters commonly found on school walls ("Reach for the stars!") reflect disturbing assumptions about children? Could the use of rubrics for evaluating student learning prove counterproductive?
Subjecting young children to homework, grades, or standardized tests-merely because these things will be required of them later-reminds Kohn of Monty Python's "getting hit on the head lessons." And, with tongue firmly in cheek, he declares that we should immediately begin teaching twenty-second-century skills.
Whether Kohn is clearing up misconceptions about progressive education or explaining why incentives for healthier living are bound to backfire, debunking the idea that education reform should be driven by concerns about economic competitiveness or putting "Supernanny" in her place, his readers will understand why the Washington Post has said that "teachers and parents who encounter Kohn and his thoughts come away transfixed, ready to change their schools."
Arguing that our schools are currently in the grip of a "cult of rigor"-a confusion of harder with better that threatens to banish both joy and meaningful intellectual inquiry from our classrooms-Alfie Kohn issues a stirring call to rethink our priorities and reconsider our practices.
Kohn's latest wide-ranging collection of writings will add to his reputation as one of the most incisive thinkers in the field, who questions the assumptions too often taken for granted in discussions about education and human behavior.
In nineteen recently published essays-and in a substantive introduction, new for this volume-Kohn repeatedly invites us to think more deeply about the conventional wisdom. Is self-discipline always desirable? he asks, citing surprising evidence to the contrary. Does academic cheating necessarily indicate a moral failing? Might inspirational posters commonly found on school walls ("Reach for the stars!") reflect disturbing assumptions about children? Could the use of rubrics for evaluating student learning prove counterproductive?
Subjecting young children to homework, grades, or standardized tests-merely because these things will be required of them later-reminds Kohn of Monty Python's "getting hit on the head lessons." And, with tongue firmly in cheek, he declares that we should immediately begin teaching twenty-second-century skills.
Whether Kohn is clearing up misconceptions about progressive education or explaining why incentives for healthier living are bound to backfire, debunking the idea that education reform should be driven by concerns about economic competitiveness or putting "Supernanny" in her place, his readers will understand why the Washington Post has said that "teachers and parents who encounter Kohn and his thoughts come away transfixed, ready to change their schools."
| ISBN-13 | 9780807001400 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0807001406 |
| Weight | 0.65 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 5.50 x 0.59 x 8.48 In |
| List Price | $15.00 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 224 pages |
| Publisher | Beacon Press |
| Published On | 2011-04-05 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Your Online Bookstore
Houston, TX, USA
Size: 5x0x8;
Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
The Maryland Book Bank
baltimore, MD, USA
Used-Very Good.
Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
BooksRun
Philadelphia, PA, USA
It's a preowned item in good condition and includes all the pages. It may have some general signs ...
Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026
✨ Used, Like New
Seller details
spellbound
McKeesport, PA, USA
LIKE NEW! ! ! Has a red or black remainder mark on bottom/exterior edge of pages.
Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
HPB Inc.
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 04 Apr 2026