1. Alfie Kohn BEYOND DISCIPLINE

2. Early Life  Born October 15, 1957 in Miami Beach, Florida  Earned a B.A. from Brown University, having created his own interdisciplinary course of study  Earned a M.A. in the social sciences from the University of Chicago

3. Behavior in the Classroom  Kohn contends that behavioral manipulation does not develop a commitment to being a caring and responsible person.  Rewarding good behavior does not provide the motivation for continuing to behave appropriately when there is no longer any reward to be gained for doing so.  In fact, Kohn maintains that the more teachers control their students through reward systems, the more difficult it is for students to become moral people who think for themselves and care about others.

4. Looking at Student/Teacher Interaction  Kohn proposes that central to effective classroom management are self- evaluations by teachers of what they consider important in the classroom, how they interact with students, and what they ask students to do.  Too often, when problems develop, teachers automatically look at the students as the cause without evaluation their own roles in the problem.  He suggests that what is needed is not another discipline plan, but a whole new curriculum, because a huge proportion of unwelcome behaviors can be traced to a problem with what students are being asked to learn.

5. Eliminating the Use of Rewards and Praise  Kohn has warned teachers about the overreliance on rewards and praise.  At least seventy studies showed that extrinsic motivators such as grades, praise, and tangible rewards are not merely infeffective but are also actually counterproductive to producing ethical, responsible individuals, according to Kohn

6. Eliminating the Use of Rewards and Praise  Kohn objected to the use of praise for several reasons.  First, rewards and praise work only for a short while and eventually lose their effectiveness.  Unfortunately, the more rewards are use, the more they seem to be needed.  Second, many students work for the reward but may never see the value of what they are learning.  Kohn identified two dozen studies that show that people expecting to receive a reward from completing a task smply do not perform as well as those who expect nothing.  Third, Kohn suggested that much of the praise used by teachers is fundamentally fraudulent, in that the teacher is pretending to talk to the student but is actually using the student to make a point or to criticize the behavior of other students.

7. Alternatives to Punishment  Kohn encourages teachers to find alternatives to punishment and to treat inappropriate behavior as a problem to be solved together in a supportive classroom community.  Therefore, Kohn is critical of traditional discipline programs that focus on punishment.  He argues that such programs may temporarily change behavior but cannot help students become ethical adults.  He also suggests that the goal of traditional discipline programs is to make children behave a certain way and to comply with adult demands rather than to support of facilitate children’s social and moral growth.

8. Alternatives to Punishment  Kohn maintains that in most situations consequences are just punishment lite, because the focus is stil on controlling students.  The creators of these discipline plans suggest that students choose their behavior, but Kohn fears that students actually have no choice, because they must decide between the lesser of two evils:  Choose to do what the teacher wants, or  Choose to be punished

9. Alternatives to Punishment  Kohn’s primary problem with both traditional and more current discipline programs is that they fail to achieve what teachers desire and may actually interfere with what teachers are trying to accomplish in the classroom.  He fears that traditional discipline warps the relationship between the punisher and the punished, with the result that the caring relationship between teacher and student is significantly compromised.

10. Do’s and Don’ts of Effective Praise  Don’t praise students, only what students do  Make praise as specific as possible  Avoid phony praise  Avoid praise that sets up competition  Give praise in private  Avoid praising a student’s character  Avoid praise that compares or condescends

11. The Kohn Model  The kind of schooling he would like to see is best promoted by transforming schools and classrooms into learning communites.  These are places in which students feel cared about and are encouraged to care about each other.  There they can experience a sense of being valued and respected; they matter to one another and to the teacher.  As a result of all this, students feel safe in their classes, not only physically but emotionally.

12. Building a Classroom Community  When students are asked to spend their days completing endless worksheets, problems are going to develop and students will misbehave to make the time pass faster and to eliminate boredom.  Kohn says there is a chasm between what teachers want and what we are doing to get it, in terms of how they want their students to be long after they have left the classroom.  He believes in converting ordinary classrooms into caring, supportive communities of learners, where students work together as they dive into topics that capture their attention.

13. Building a Classroom Community  Kohn thinks traditional instruction—the type in which the teacher selects the curriculum; doing the planning; delievers the lessons through lecture, demonstration, guided discussion, reading assignments, worksheets and homework;and then uses tests to evaluate progress—is falling short of the expectations we hold for education.  This kind of instruction is aimed at getting students to demonstrate behaviorally certain specific objectives, usually on tests.  But it gives little attention to exploring ideas, seeking new solutions, looking for meaning or connections, or attempting to gain deeper understanding of the phenomena involved.

14. Building a Classroom Community  Many teachers fear that if traditional approaches to classroom management are removed as options for dealing with classroom problems, they will be powerless.  Kohn stresses that the goal should be not finding another discipline plan but transforming our current educational structures by creating classroom communities where students care about each other, their teachers and the school.

15. Building a Classroom Community  Building a classroom community begins with students having a positive relationship with an adult who respects and cares about them.  Kohn stresses that communities are built upon a foundation of cooperating throughout the day, with students continually being allowed to work together.  Students acquire a sense of significance from doing significant things, from being active participants in their own education.  Finally, academic instruction can be used to build community.  Community building should not be separate from what students are learning.  Students should be provided explicit opportunities to practice perspective taking, through which they can imagine how the world looks from someone else’s point of view

16. Building a Classroom Community  Most of the discussion of how to resolve classroom problems and how to build a community can take place in class meetings.  Kohn states, “ Apart from the invaluable social and ethical benefits of class meetings, they foster intellectual development as well, as students learn to reason their way through problems, analyzing possibilities and negotiating solutions.”  When students meet in a class meeting, they get the positive message that their voices count, they experience a feeling of community, they learn to problem-solve and make decisions, and they develop the ability to reason and analyze.

17. Rule Development  Kohn is not an advocate of rule development for several reasons.  First, he finds that rules turn children into little lawyers who look for loopholes and ways around the wording.  Second, rules turn teachers into police officers who emphasize enforcement rather than learning.  Finally, when rules are broken, the typical reaction is to provide a consequence. Therefore, the emphasis is on punishing students rather than helping them grow into self-discipilined individuals.

18. Rule Development  Rather than creating rules, Kohn suggests that students engage in conversation about the type of community they wish their classroom to be.  He argues that even very young children can begin with specific ideas of how they should treat one another.  It is wrestling with a dilemma and discussing conflicting perspectives that is important, not the rules that might be developed from the discussion.  In creating rules, the process is the point.  Kohn stresses that rules in themselves are not valuable, but the conversation that gives rise to them is.

19. Current Structure of the Classroom  Kohn fears that the current structure of most classrooms makes it difficult fro a community of learners to be established.  He notes that the time restraints of many classrooms, especially those of the middle school and high school, make it difficult to establish the feelings of a community, in that a community cannot be built in 45 minute segments.  Large classrooms with 20 to 30 students also limit the ability for teachers to get to know each individual student.  However, the benefits of building a classroom community outweigh the obstacles in doing so.

20. Benefits of Community Building  Significantly greater academic motivation and performance  A liking for school  Empathy and motivation to help others  An ability to resolve conflict  Greater enjoyment of class  Stronger commitment to key democratic values  Higher sense of efficacy  Increased altruistic behavior

21. So How Do I Apply This?  Believe in the importance of classroom community. Teachers act on their beliefs. If teachers believe in the concept, their actions will convey the same message to students.  Greet students at the door. Check in with students each day to see what is going on in their lives. Don’t just appear interested. Be interested.  Assign “study buddies” who help each other to get organized, work on projects, encourage each other, solve problems, and provide peer feedback.  Recognize each student for the uniqueness and the value they bring to the community. This should not be based on accomplishments, but on membership within the community.  Teach perspecting taking. Help students understand the sides to issues and the reasons others think and feel the way they do.  Provide opportunities for discussion and debate. Lively debate and discussion are the foundation of a democracy.

22. How Do I Apply This?  Play games. One of the best ways to develop good relationships is to have fun. Games can also be excellent ways to review class material.  Help students find common threads. It is important that students learn about one another and to discover the ways they are similar and different. Games and activities should be developed to help students find the characteristics they share with others.  Use literature to build community. Find common problems and characteristics with characters in books.  Conduct classroom meetings. Meetings can be used to share news, discuss academic issues, or resolve classroom problems.  Participate in service projects. Help students see that they are part of a bigger community an the contributions they can make to this bigger community. Achieving real goals builds a sense of community.

23. How Do I Apply This?  Have classroom jobs. Students who take on a variety of classroom jobs learn how people cooperate and depend of each other within a community.  Use cooperate leaving. Providing students with an opportunity to work together not only promotes learning but also promotes a sense of community.  Use rituals and traditions. Developng rituals and tradtions in which everyone participates helps to foster feeling of comfort and belonging.  Share talents. Teach that it takes mulitiple talents and skills to make a community work. Discover the strengths and talents of each student and provide them an apportunity to use these talents for the good of the classroom community.

24. Kohn’s Accomplishments  Editorial Advisory Board, Education Digest  Editorial Board, Greater Good Science Center  Laureate, Kappa Delta Pi (International Education Honor Society)  National Council of Teachers of English George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, 2000, for The Schools Our Children Deserve  National-Louis University Ferguson Award for Distinguished Contribution to Early Childhood Education, 2002  American Psychological Association's National Psychology Award for Excellence in the Media, 1987, for No Contest  National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Gold Award, 2006, for Unconditional Parenting  Canadian Teachers' Federation's Public Education Advocacy Award, 2007