Classroom Essentials: An Exploration

Alfie Kohn's writings and speeches have been stirring up controversy for years, as he demonstrates how the conventional wisdom about education is often not supported by the available research, and illuminates gaps between our long-term goals for students and what actually goes on in schools. Now What to Look for in a Classroom brings together his most popular articles from a variety of publications, where he raises a series of provocative questions about the status quo in education.

Through his incisive essays, Kohn challenges us to reconsider some of our most basic assumptions about children and education. He questions whether good values can truly be instilled in students, what lies behind the label of attention deficit disorder, and whether there are solid data to support our skepticism about watching TV. Kohn also examines whether allegedly enlightened practices like authentic assessment, logical consequences, and Total Quality education might actually be detrimental.

Whether he is explaining why cooperative learning can be so threatening or why detracking is so fiercely opposed, Kohn offers a fresh, informed, and frequently disconcerting perspective on the major issues in education. This collection of previously published essays from Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, Education Week, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Boston Globe, reminds us that many schools have veered off course in their day-to-day business.

Kohn's critical examination of current practice is complemented by a vision of what schooling ought to be. He argues for giving children more opportunity to participate in their own schooling, for transforming classrooms into caring communities, and for providing the kind of education that taps and nourishes children's curiosity. Through these essays, Kohn calls us back to our own ideals, showing us how we can be more effective at helping students to become good learners and good people.

This primer, if taken seriously, can put schools back on the right track. Kohn has a knack for bursting the bubbles that surround just about every school topic imaginable, from putting kids into uniforms to make them behave better to raising kids' self-esteem by rewarding them with stickers and pizza for reading books and doing homework. His critical perspective and vision for education challenge us to reconsider our assumptions and strive for more effective, student-centered schooling.

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