Alfie Kohn

Because there is no proven benefits, harm is done to these kids, and it results in lower grades. Schools should just completely stop giving out homework. We should be done tormenting kids with homework. According to, “No Proven Benefits” by Alfie Kohn, there really are no benefits. Kids get so frustrated by their homework that they get exhausted and are forced to miss after-school activities. This is unfortunate because parents pay a lot of money for sports and instrument lessons. The other…

on-going debates about the traditional grading system. Many argue that the system deters learning therefore; it should be overhauled and/or reformed. Alfie Kohn, an American author and educator that speaks and writes about education and parenting is very much opposed to the traditional grading system. In his essay “From Degrading to De-Grading”, Alfie Kohn argues against it, he claim that students are so grade driven that it reduces their interest in learning, creativity and preference for…

I choose Alfie Kohn to write my paper on he was born in Miami Beach, Florida. He earned a B.A. from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in 1979 and an M.A. in the social sciences from the University of Chicago in Illinois in 1980. He now lives in the Boston area and works as an independent scholar, writing books about research in the areas of education, parenting, and human behavior. The ideal classroom, according to Alfie Kohn, is one in which curiosity and cooperation are emphasized…

math problem or an essay prompt that might be difficult to respond to give students the problem solving skills needed to progress in a professional environment. By taking that away, students are always trying to find the easiest way out of a problem. Kohn validates this with explaining, "The more pressure to get an A, the less inclination to truly challenge oneself. Thus, students who cut corners may not be lazy so much as rational; they are adapting to an environment where good grades, not…

Grade Inflation: In Alfie Kohn’s article, “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation,” Kohn analyzes the complaints of student’s grades rising over the years. During his analysis Kohn looked for data that demonstrated reasons why grades were thought to have been inflated versus the students motivation behind achieving higher grades. Kohn also explains that it is difficult to determine the reasoning behind grade inflation claims. These claims may be false depending on the time period in which the…

Pressure makes things hard for people, it puts them into situations where they can’t hear their inner voice. “How Not to Get into College” by Alfie Kohn and “Manhood” by John Wain have many interesting similarities and differences. “How Not to Get into College” talks about how students are pressurized in many ways and they race for grades forgetting about the knowledge, whereas “Manhood” is a story about a boy named Rob and his father (Mr. Willison). Rob’s father wants Rob to be athletic and do…

In his essay, “Why Competition?” Alfie Kohn claims that competition will always be an unhealthy human behavior as it diminishes any “real human community.” Kohn believes that when one competes to be the “best,” they are never truly satisfied because there is always someone who has done better, but he ignores the fact that without some form of competition, humanity as a whole would not be where it is today. It is competition that propels people into new ages and forces them to adapt in order to…

is that children are beginning to focus more on getting good grades than learning the information, and enjoying it. In an article called “The Costs of Overemphasizing Achievement”, Alfie Kohn suggests “as motivation to get good grades goes up, motivation to explore ideas tends to go down.” One of the topics that Kohn brings up is standardized testing. He states “Standardized tests often have the additional disadvantages of being (a) produced and scored far away from the classroom, (b) multiple…

Students have become accustomed to associating themselves and their value as a student with their grades. The writer and teacher Alfie Kohn, noticed when teaching at a high school that some kids suffered existential vertigo when they were no longer graded. At early ages students are pitted against each other to earn the highest grade. This ruins the environment, making school a modern…

problems and therefore should not be given. As said in the article, “Homework: No Proven Benefits,” Alfie Kohn says, “...no study has ever demonstrated any academic benefit to assigning homework.” If homework gives no benefits to the child, what is the point of assigning it to them? Homework just causes stress to students, even if they get behind on their homework. Also said in the article by Alfie Kohn is, “... a lack of respect for children (implicit in a determination to keep them very busy…