Kohn

Kohn's view of classroom managaement are quite unconventional, but extrememly noteworthy. His theories revolve around building a community of learners who are intrinsincally motivated. Nowadays, many teachers structure their classrooms around a token economy, and often use coercive discipline. Tickets, candy, free time, pizza parties, and stickers are among the countless rewards offered for good behavior. The students love it, but the problem lies in the reasons they behave appropriately. Kohn says students should want to do their homework, be well-behaved, and read books because it benefits their own learning and/or because it is the right thing to do. In a token economy, students care more about the reward than their own learning. I agree with Kohn's theory. I've been in classrooms where students are rewarded so frequently, that when the teachers ask them to do something, one student responded with, "What do we get for this?" Students who are intrinsically motivated care about their education and success, and will continue to do so even when there is no one is around to give them a gold star.I cannot say I'd never reward my students for good behavior, or high performance, but it would never be positioned in an "If you do this...., then you'll get ..." I will encourage my students to perform to their highest potential, and explain the reasons why we learn and why education is important. I want my students to be driven by their goals of being successful.

Another theory of Kohn's is that students should not have homework after sitting in school all day long. Although I understand that students are "tired of learning" by the end of the day, I think students need to practice on their own when the teacher is not present to answer questions. However, I believe that homework should not be graded, nor should it be more than a handful of questions.

Charles, C. M. Alfie Kohn’s ‘Beyond Discipline’. In Building classroom discipline. Boston. Allyn and Bacon. 2002. Ch. 12. pp. 189-204.

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