In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they are graduated, at which point we assume they have a house. What they have is a pile of bricks, and they don't have it for long.

Alfie Kohn

Categorized in : Ideas Long Giving

Don't let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures. The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered.

education teacher school

Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, no... by Alfie Kohn

Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions.

learning decision children

If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.

mistake feelings children

Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire... by Alfie Kohn

Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire is to keep learning.

educational strong desire

Educators remind us that what counts in a classroom is not what the teacher teaches; it’s what the learner learns.

educator classroom teacher

Children, after all, are not just adults-in-the-making. They are people whose current needs and rights and experiences must be taken seriously.

taken rights children

In outstanding classrooms, teachers do more listening than talking, and students do more talking than listening. Terrific teachers often have teeth marks on their tongues.

listening talking teacher

The difference between a good educator and a great educator is that the former figures out how to work within the constraints of traditional policies and accepted assumptions, whereas the latter figures out how to change whatever gets in the way of doing right by kids. 'But we've always...', 'But the parents will never...', 'But we can't be the only school in the area to...' - all such protestations are unpersuasive to great educators. If research and common sense argue for doing things differently, then the question isn't whether to change course but how to make it happen.

differences kids school

If a child is off-task...mayb e the problem is not the child...ma... by Alfie Kohn

If a child is off-task...mayb e the problem is not the child...maybe it's the task.

tasks problem children

We can't value only what is easy to measure; measurable outcomes may be the least important results of learning.

outcomes important may

Saying you taught it but the student didn't learn it is like saying you sold it but the customer didn't buy it.

taught students teaching

If I offered you a thousand dollars to take off your shoes, you'd very likely accept--and then I could triumphantly announce that 'rewards work.' But as with punishments, they can never help someone develop a commitment to a task or action, a reason to keep doing it when there's no longer a payoff.

punishment shoes commitment

If unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm are present, praise isn't necessary. If they're absent, praise won't help.

unconditional-love enthusiasm helping

Whoever said there's no such thing as a stupid question never looked carefully at a standardized test.

tests stupid said

Those who know they're valued irrespective of their accomplishments often end up accomplishing quite a lot. It's the experience of being accepted without conditions that helps people develop a healthy confidence in themselves, a belief that it's safe to take risks and try new things.

accomplishment healthy people

Each time I visit such a classroom, where the teacher is more interested in creating a democratic community than in maintaining her position of authority, I’m convinced all over again that moving away from consequences and rewards isn’t just realistic - it’s the best way to help kids grow into good learners and good people.

teacher kids moving

Social psychology has found the more you reward people for doing something, the more they tend to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward.

rewards psychology people

We have so much to cover and so little time to cover it. Howard Gardner refers to curriculum coverage as the single greatest enemy of understanding. Think instead about ideas to be discovered.

understanding ideas thinking

People will typically be more enthusiastic where they feel a sense of belonging and see themselves as part of a community than they will in a workplace in which each person is left to his own devices

workplace community people

To be well-educated is to have the desire as well as the means to make sure that learning never ends.

ends desire mean