Product Description

What is most remarkable about the assortment of discipline programs on the market today is the number of fundamental assumptions they seem to share. Some may advocate the use of carrots rather than sticks; some may refer to punishments as "logical consequences." But virtually all take for granted that the teacher must be in control of the classroom, and that what we need are strategies to get students to comply with the adult’s expectations.

Alfie Kohn challenged these widely accepted premises, and with them the very idea of classroom "management," when the original edition of Beyond Discipline was published in 1996. Since then, his path-breaking book has invited hundreds of thousands of educators to question the assumption that problems in the classroom are always the fault of students who don’t do what they’re told; instead, it may be necessary to reconsider what it is that they’ve been told to do--or to learn. Kohn shows how a fundamentally cynical view of children underlies the belief that we must tell them exactly how we expect them to behave and then offer "positive reinforcement" when they obey.

Just as memorizing someone else’s right answers fails to promote students’ intellectual development, so does complying with someone else’s expectations for how to act fail to help students develop socially or morally. Kohn contrasts the idea of discipline, in which things are done to students to control their behavior, with an approach in which we work with students to create caring communities where decisions are made together.

Beyond Discipline has earned the status of an education classic, a vital alternative to all the traditional manuals that consist of techniques for imposing control. For this 10th anniversary edition, Kohn adds a new afterword that expands on the book’s central themes and responds to questions from readers. Packed with stories from real classrooms around the country, seasoned with humor and grounded in a vision as practical as it is optimistic, Beyond Discipline shows how students are most likely to flourish in schools that have moved toward collaborative problem solving--and beyond discipline.

Alfie Kohn is the author of many other books about education and human behavior, including Punished by Rewards, The Schools Our Children Deserve, and Unconditional Parenting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187933 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 191 pages

About the Author
Alfie Kohn is the author of many other books about education and human behavior, including Punished by Rewards, The Schools Our Children Deserve, and Unconditional Parenting.

Customer Reviews

From compliance to community
The subtitle captures well the thrust of the book. Alfie Kohn continues to ask probing questions to challenge our assumptions and beliefs and prods us to see things from the child's perspective. Instead of being concerned with classroom management and control--getting children to do what we want, we should first ask, "What do children need?," and "How can we meet those needs?". Very often discipline problems arise, not, as it is commonly believed, out of the students' personal problems or the need for attention or power. Rather it is just because the adults' demands may be unreasonable, or the curriculum may be irrelevant. "When students are 'off task', our first response should be to ask, 'What's the task?'" (p.19). Coercion, use of punishment and rewards, any control measures are not achieving our common goals in fostering depth of understanding, independence of thinking, continuing motivation to learn and concern for others. Students should have their say, participate in making decisions, be given autonomy and responsibility. Students must feel cared about and be encouraged to care about others. Only caring relationships build community. Competition is the worst enemy. Suggestions on building community, solving problems together were given. Also answers to ten common objections. For educators who value democracy, this is a worhtwhile book.

A different perspective on "managing" the classroom.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It offered me insights into classroom discipline that I had never considered. The most powerful statement made in the book--in my opinion-- is that, instead of wondering how to make children behave differently, we should be asking ourselves what we are doing to make them behave the way they are. Too often I make decisions solely for the purpose of being the "boss". This book helped me to stop and think about why I want the children to behave a certain way. I had a very difficult class a few years ago, and I wish I would have read this book prior to that time. However, during the reading, a lot of that class's problems made more sense to me!

In response to reviews...
To the reviewer who said Kohn has no experience: He was a teacher for several years. Secondary to be specific. He travels the country observing classrooms. This book was written in response to a)his own experience b)exhaustive research but mostly c)to answer the question of why certain classrooms he observed seemed to have "better" learners than others.

To reviewers who say there are no practical solutions within the book: True, with a huge but. Kohn says he does not want to give examples because there are no "right" answers. What he proposes is a philosophy, not a step by step process. He wants us to question our way of thinking. How can we question it if we are following Uncle Alfie's hand dandy instructions? To tell us what to do would undermine the whole premise of the book (telling is futile, doing and creating meaning are worthwhile). The "good" teacher, according to Kohn and this book, is one who is constantly questioning what is going on in their room and how it benefits the child. The "good" teacher is also one who believes the child should be worked with, not done to. When you think the ideas through, the "how"s should become clearer. He does give models, but I feel a book on more practicals would be helpful. People, unfortunately, want their hand held. Kohn should maybe reapply his thought of "addicted to rewards" with teachers who have always been told what to do and how to do it. But if he tells them what to do and they follow blindly, are they truly committed to it?

To reviewers who say he spends half of the book complaining: I would call it refuting at worst, getting us to question our current ways of thinking at best. I somewhat agree with the one reviewer who says Kohn sounds like a broken record. Yes, he has written the same thing before. But look at the educational world? Has it changed much? Suffice it to say, if you've read Punished By Rewards, this one is a good addition to it. Do not go to this book looking for a lot of grand revelations if you have read PbR or a substantial amount of his articles.

To reviewers who claim this book is a godsend: Welcome to the world of Alfie Kohn. Applying the ideas are not simple becuase the kids will "fight" it at first. I believe the words he uses are that it's like coming into a bright room after being in the dark. This is the truth. I am struggling with implementing the ideas.

Lastly, heed his warning: Freedom to choose without structure is chaos (my own words, but interpreted from the book). Structure is necessary. Just question what structures are necessary. Always remember, the kids want to learn. Let them. It has succeeded and will continue to succeed. Get support. Do not lose faith.