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Formerly a teacher himself, Alfie Kohn now writes about education--its goals, its flaws, its successes, its promise. In The Schools Our Children Deserve, he launches a strong attack against the proponents of "back to basics," hierarchical, fact-driven education, and supports his presentation with research data. Amazon.com quotes Jonathan Kozol on Kohn's latest advocacy of progressive education: "Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities: The Schools Our Children Deserve is a very important achievement, a powerful assault upon the mad excesses of the educational standards movement. It is a remarkable book that should become a classic in the field." One aspect that is very appealing to me is his chart, offered in the Appendix, called "A Visitor's Guide." This Guide lists traits Kohn thinks characterize worthwhile, progressive classrooms, and those that characterize traditional, hierarchical, teacher-driven classrooms. For instance, under "Sounds," Kohn lists "Frequent hum of activity and ideas being exchanged" as a "Good Sign," while under "Possible Reason to Worry" are "The teacher's voice is the loudest or most often heard" and "Frequent periods of silence." And he talks about high schools as well as elementary schools--the book is very relevant for parents of teens and pre-teens. Amazon gives the book 5 stars; of the millions of books Amazon sells, this one ranks at 556--not bad for a nonfiction essay. Recommended. Click to go to the amazon.com page devoted to The Schools Our Children Deserve. 
In certain school districts in America, the utility of homework is being seriously challenged. Buell and Kralovec are being interviewed, the NY Times ran a frontpage article on the homework issue--it's a hot topic, thanks in part to the authors' new book. I wish I'd written this book! How many parents already know that homework doesn't work? Get the book at a 10% discount by clicking here. |
Alfie Kohn, 