Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community,   ISBN:9781416604723

Customer Rating: 

Kohn loves straw men. He consistently portrays classroom management as some sort of draconian coercion inflicted on the poor suffering children by teachers who may as well be wearing black capes and sporting handlebar mustaches. He then rides to the rescue with ideas he has borrowed from the same theorists he has disparaged. Classroom management is not about browbeating children to do what you command. It is about creating a safe and encouraging learning environment and being prepared to offer invigorating and meaningful lesson plans. Kohn picks his villain (Lee Canters) and proceeds to attack every other class management theory as a derivitive of Canters Assertive Discipline theory. This is nonsense. Before you make a hero out of Kohn I suggest you read Glasser, Coloroso and a few others. He takes enough ideas from them, you might as well get it from the horse's mouth. Kohn's secret is that he essentially has no plan, a sure recipe for failure in any field, especially teaching. There are plenty of hapless, incapable teachers out there, most of whom also have no plan. Should you enlist students help in devising class procedures? Absolutely. Should your class be a place for open and exciting discussion? I hope so. Should you care about each student, encouraging them to choose behavior that will benefit them now and in the future? Duh! Well, those are all aspects of classroom management and discipline. Discipline, as described by most CM theorists, is not punishment; it is a method of teaching students how to exhibit self control, own their own responsibilities, and make informed choices. Gosh, we sure wouldn't want that! I'll restate this: The problem isn't with teachers who use concepts of classroom management, it is teachers who have no concept of what makes kids want to learn, who don't see students as individuals,who use tired old lesson plans, and who (probably) hate their job.

Customer Rating: 

I'm buying the book based on the reviews but I also wanted to make a comment on Wordy's review about building relationships in the classroom, "Kohn addresses these problems by insetad building relationships with students and allowing them a chance to make real decisions."

Last year, I had a boy in my class (10 to 12th graders) who never gave me any problems. He was an semi-active participant in a classroom full of girls! But I had other teachers (come up to me and volunteer) what problem he was in their classes; and the only thing I can attribute to the fact that he wasn't a problem in mine was building community with him as well as the other students based on mutual respect.

Another reviewer wrote that they'd like some research done on this! This isn't validated but I do know that creating that relationship with my students cut down on approx 50 to 60 % of the discipline problems. ****A smile and a kind word goes a LONG WAY with students (people in general).

I'm buying this book so I am eager to read it. (I will update if my review is less than satisfactory.)

Customer Rating: 

I have my doubts... the author believes that kids must learn behavior on their own, and teachers must give up control. While I agree that many teachers are too anal about control, the author goes too far in the other direction. If we adopt the author's view, then the children should learn everything on their own, kind of like the "Lord of the Flies" Elementary School or something. Why teach them math? Let them figure it out on their own. Why should we "force" our view of traffic safety on them. Let them learn on their own, what happens if you cross the street without looking both ways. Why teach gun safety? Let them learn on their own. Like most bleeding-hearts, the author wants the lunatics to run the asylum. Is this cynical? Maybe, but experience and statistics also show that it is reality. I give my students plenty of leeway to learn on their own, but I also deal with the world as it is, not how I wish it were. Like one of our founding fathers, I am "guided by the lamp of experience. I know of no way to judge the present but by the past." Kids must be taught, they must be guided, and yes, sometimes they must be forced. To do otherwise is to create a menace to society. The author needs to come out of his "happy place" and learn that reality exists in between what he criticizes and what he advocates.

On the technical side, the author tries to cover up the futility of his ideas in the usual manner common to bleeders: he uses big words and intellectual psycho-babble in attempt to lend credibility to his views. We should all be impressed by his educational background, although it demonstrates no grounding in reality and experience. We would be better off listening to the advice of our grandparents who actually did the work, rather than this idealist, who is locked away in his ivory tower.

Customer Rating: 

I thoroughly enjoyed Alfie Kohn's book. It was a refreshing look at creating a democratic classroom where students are engaged, empowered, and respected. It will definitely influence how I behave in the classroom in the fall. It has led me to explore his other views and books on education and on parenting which I am currently reading.

Customer Rating: 

The good: There are a lot of very good points in this book. I have seen first hand what rewards and punishments do. Nothing to stop "bad" behavior. The same kids are in detention at my school every week. Also they ask, "What do I get for doing my homework". Kohn addresses these problems by insetad building relationships with students and allowing them a chance to make real decisions. If you were reading this book there are great answers. Building a community would prevent a majority of the "behavior" troubles in the school I teach at. Kohn is not all knowing so not everyone should take everything he says as the absolute truth, nor should they dismiss everything he says.
The bad: He spent half the book pointing out why others are wrong, this could have been discussed in a chapter. He did not actually show concrete proof this worked, but I challenge anyone to find concrete proof anywhere. Even elaborate studies are never completly conclusive. He only taught for a little while. I guess this means that he is incompetant. Or, it means that he was completely self motivated and didn't spend the tens of thousands of dollars to get another degree and have some one say he was, indeed, competent. Maybe he is well read and spends a lot of time observing. I guess read the book and see if he makes sense or if you think he is a quack.
Either way this is one of the most important classroom "management" books out there, so as an educator you should read it.