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PODCAST

Kohn"s Zone

Over more than a third of a century, Alfie Kohn has offered a multifaceted defense of progressive education as well as research-based critiques of rewards and punishments, grades, standardized testing, homework, competition, and other aspects of traditional schooling (and parenting). Each episode of Kohn’s Zone will offer 20-30 minutes of provocative reflections on a topic having to do with teaching and learning — or with human behavior more generally; occasional longer segments will feature

science social sciences

All Episodes

1:06:54

Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/10/01

October 1, 2026Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools More than a quarter-century after “No Child Left Behind” deliberately left millions of children behind by imposing nationwide punitive high-stakes testing, U.S. students are still tested constantly, starting early in elementary school. Children in many states may be forced to repeat a grade based solely on their scores. In a memorable conversation, FAIRTEST director Harry Feder helps us understand just how pervasive

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26:25

Caution: Contents Under Pressure

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/09/15

September 15, 2026Caution: Contents Under Pressure The psychological consequences of pressuring children to perform well academically (and, worse, to outperform their peers) are distressingly obvious. But some adults rationalize their actions by claiming that pressure can be productive. Here we consider psychological research on different amounts and types of stress, as well as asking what exactly we view as a “productive” outcome. It turns out that internal pressure can be as

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30:08

How Not to Deal with Bullying

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/09/01

September 1, 2026How Not to Deal with Bullying The amount of bullying that goes on in schools is as sobering as the psychological impact it has on its victims, sometimes lasting into adulthood. Alas, common strategies for dealing with this problem are often ineffective and even counterproductive. In fact, we may inadvertently create a climate conducive to bullying by relying on punitive discipline and also by pitting students against each other in contests. Rather than just trying to

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Teaching Kindness

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/08/15

August 15, 2026Teaching Kindness How can schools help children to become not only good learners but also good people? What’s involved in cultivating a genuine concern about others, an enduring commitment to helping and caring? Here we consider several strategies, which require us to look beyond behaviors and think about motives: the care we express for students, the prosocial examples we set, the beliefs we hold about them, the explanations we offer (about how their actions affect

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1:04:12

The Pseudoscience of Reading

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/08/01

August 1, 2026The Pseudoscience of Reading What the real science of reading shows is that there isn’t a single method for learning how to read that’s ideal for all children. Moreover, reading is not just about letter-sound relationships; it’s about making meaning — reading (and talking about) real books for real reasons. In an eye-opening conversation, literacy expert Catherine Compton-Lilly helps us dissect the dishonest claims of the so-called “Science of

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30:05

The Remarkable Benefits of Diversity

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/07/15

July 15, 2026The Remarkable Benefits of Diversity Even if you aren’t ideologically opposed to segregation in schools, research shows that it doesn’t make sense for practical reasons — and that goes not only for segregation by race but also segregation by gender, ability, or age. What generally proves beneficial, from preschool to college, are heterogeneous environments — diverse schools and, equally important, diverse classrooms. But because proximity doesn’t

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30:06

Raising Reflective Rebels

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/07/01

July 1, 2026 Raising Reflective Rebels We’re faced with a silent epidemic of obedience, a pervasive failure to become outraged by outrageous things. Adults whose highest accolade for a child is “well-behaved” often themselves suffer from a crisis of moral courage. This episode offers practical suggestions for teachers and parents who want to help kids acquire not only the capacity but the inclination to question what they’re told — and, when necessary, to

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30:15

Fun Without Winning or Losing

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/06/15

June 15, 2026Fun Without Winning or Losing We have been raised – and, in turn, raise our children – to take on faith that recreation requires competition, that half the people playing a game must try to defeat the other half. (They “cooperate” only with their teammates, and only in order to triumph over the other team.) In a true cooperative game, by contrast, everyone on the field – or gathered around a table indoors, in the case of cooperative board games

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1:14:19

“Progressive High School” Is Not an Oxymoron

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/06/01

June 1, 2026“PROGRESSIVE HIGH SCHOOL” IS NOT AN OXYMORON In theory, the fact that all but a handful of states have eliminated do-or-die exit exams allows high schools to finally do right by teenagers, to help them become engaged intellectuals and caring people. A leading theorist and practitioner of secondary education – author, professor, and long-time Midwestern principal George Wood – examines the barriers to creating meaningful high school reform as well as how

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Grade Inflation Is Not the Problem

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/05/15

May 15, 2026Grade Inflation Is Not the Problem When you look at student transcripts (rather than at self-reports), it’s less clear that average grades are rising over time. And even if some grades are higher, that doesn’t mean they’re “inflated” (i.e., undeserved). But many conservative critics don’t seem troubled by their inability to prove those claims; they’re indignant whenever a lot of kids get high grades, as if that outcome were inherently

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26:54

Beneath the What and the How Is the Why

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/05/01

May 1, 2026Beneath the What and the How Is the Why In the absence of an affirmative definition of mental health, psychology doesn’t become value-free; its values – and the goals of therapy – are just driven underground. Similarly, if we don’t reflect on the purpose of education, schooling by default is oriented just to collecting a credential. The point of this episode is not to recommend one specific educational goal but to sharpen the questions we ask about that

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The Best Classroom Discussions, Hands Down

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/04/15

April 15, 2026The Best Classroom Discussions, Hands Down In traditional classrooms, students may contribute to a discussion only by raising their hands and waiting for the teacher to call on them. In even more controlling environments, students must contribute when the teacher calls on them, even if they’d rather not. The latter practice, “cold calling,” puts kids on the spot and forces them to perform on command. But the former practice, too, could be described as

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1:07:47

The Assault on Public Education

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/04/01

April 1, 2026The Assault on Public Education: A Conversation with Jennifer Berkshire Public schools, says Jennifer Berkshire, are the places “where we start to solve problems together” and from which no child can be excluded even if she has special needs or two moms. Public education is really the foundation of a pluralistic secular democracy, which is precisely why it has long been the target of the religious right. This extended episode of Kohn’s Zone features a

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16:54

Friendly Excursions into Disequilibrium

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/03/15

March 15, 2026Friendly Excursions into Disequilibrium Enforced harmony is counterproductive. Pushing students (or employees) to come to agreement prematurely tends to undermine learning (or produce bad decisions). Sometimes that’s motivated by a desire to avoid conflict. But conflict handled carefully is not only tolerable; it’s valuable. What’s problematic is debate – disagreement where the point is not to learn or seek the truth but to win. The ideal arrangement

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31:19

Who’s Cheating Whom?

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/03/01

March 1, 2026Who’s Cheating Whom? We’re often warned about an “epidemic” of academic cheating and urged to do more to deter and punish the devious culprits. But we’ve had a century of research showing that the frequency of cheating is predicted not by the compromised morality of individual students but by the policies, priorities, and practices of schools. Specifically, cheating is far more common in competitive, achievement-oriented environments and much

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19:55

The Whole Point Is That There’s No Point

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/02/15

February 15, 2026The Whole Point Is That There's No Point Early-childhood educators remind us how vital it is for kids to have plentiful opportunities to engage in free play - which, sadly, is often denied to them as academic pressures are imposed too early and too intensely. But let's consider some perspectives on play that are less obvious: how the word is sometimes applied to activities that really aren't play at all; how important play is for older students and adults, too; how play isn't the

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59:04

Beyond “Electronic Flashcards”

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/02/01

February 1, 2026Beyond "Electronic Flashcards": A Conversation with Gary Stager Computers in classrooms may have the potential to radically enrich and democratize student learning, but the reality of ed tech typically looks very different. This extended episode of Kohn's Zone features a stimulating conversation with Gary Stager, one of our foremost experts on this topic. He takes us beyond banal generalities ("technology has pluses and minuses") in order to tease out which types, uses, and

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How to Kill Kids’ Interest in Reading

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/01/15

January 15, 2026How to Kill Kids' Interest in Reading Surveys reveal that fewer children and adults are reading for pleasure. This might be due partly to social media, but certain classroom strategies and school policies likely play a role. In this episode we come at the issue backwards: What would teachers do if their goal was to extinguish kids' enthusiasm about books? Well, they would adopt a "fonix fetish" when teaching young children. They would require older students to read for a certain

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26:34

Who Gets to Decide – Part 2

Kohn"s Zone ·

2026/01/01

January 1, 2026Who Gets to Decide? - Part 2 Intellectually vibrant classrooms are distinguished by teachers who do a lot more asking than telling. Their motto when confronting challenges or planning lessons is "Bring the kids in on it!" Regular class meetings offer a significant role for students to reflect on "how we want our class to be" (rather than focusing on specific rules). This second of a two-part episode digs deeply into strategies for supporting student autonomy and then explores some

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20:45

Who Gets to Decide?

Kohn"s Zone ·

2025/12/15

December 15, 2025Who Gets to Decide? An impressive body of research shows that people of all ages - including students in classrooms - are happier, healthier, and more productive when they have some say about what they're doing. Indeed, the way children learn to make good decisions is by making decisions. Why, then, are so many classrooms more focused on eliciting their compliance than supporting their autonomy? In this, the first of a two-part episode, stories and studies illustrate the benefits

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32 results

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