<img height="1" width="1" alt="" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=940171109376247&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

Dedicated to Teachers


Alfie Kohn: Disturbing Stories We Tell About Education

Alfie Kohn's newest book "Schooling Beyond Measure"

Recently, Tom Newkirk joined Alfie Kohn to talk about Kohn’s new book, Schooling Beyond Measure and Other Unorthodox Essays About Education. In today’s clip, they discuss the currently presented narrative of American education and how these stories influence our perception of teachers and schools.

Kohn addresses three of these stories that he finds particularly disturbing:

  1. Everything can be and should be reduced to numbers
  2. People in schools don’t have high standards and need to be controlled from above
  3. Success driven by global economic competitiveness requires beating other people and seeing them as obstacles

Watch the clip below:

 
 
 
 
 
2:49
 
 
 
2:49
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for reporting a problem. We'll attach technical data about this session to help us figure out the issue. Which of these best describes the problem?

Any other details or context?

Cancel
message
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Kohn’s new book, Schooling Beyond Measure, is a collection of provocative and insightful essays that address big-picture policy issues as well as small scale classroom interactions. In it, he looks carefully at research about such topics as homework, play, the supposed benefits of practice, parent involvement in education, the alleged inferiority of U.S. schools relative to those in other countries, and summer learning loss—discovering in each case that what we've been led to believe doesn't always match what the studies actually say.

Click here to learn more about Schooling Beyond Measure and to read a sample from the book. Follow Alfie Kohn on Twitter @alfiekohn or visit his web site at AlfieKohn.org.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Alfie Kohn has been described in Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” The author of over a dozen books, he has helped shape the thinking of educators and parents for over two decades. Kohn has been featured on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including the “Today” show and “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.

 

Topics: Video, Education, Education Policy, Tom Newkirk, Alfie Kohn, Schooling Beyond Measure

Date Published: 06/18/15

Related Posts

A Video Tour of Interactive Writing

The following is an excerpt from A Teacher’s Guide to Interactive Writing by Matt Halpern.
Apr 12, 2023 8:00:00 AM

Watch Jennifer Serravallo Live for a Q&A About The Reading Strategies Book 2.0

The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 is here! To celebrate the dramatically revised must-have resource, author...
Jan 25, 2023 10:36:59 AM

Four Steps to Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing

How do you use mentor texts to teach writing well? First, know what you can teach with mentor texts. Ment...
Nov 8, 2022 10:36:54 AM

How to Access Online Resources Step-By-Step

Many of Heinemann's professional books come with online resources. This step-by-step guide will help you ...
Feb 9, 2022 9:54:13 AM