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John Dewey reminded us that the value of what students do 'resides in its connection with a stimulation of greater thoughtfulness, not in the greater strain it imposes.

Alfie Kohn

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Alfie Kohn
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: October 15
Author
Teacher
Writer
Miami Beach
Florida
Greater
Stimulation
Values
Reminded
Strain
Connection
John
Dewey
Connections
Thoughtfulness
Students
Imposes
Value
Resides

More quotes by Alfie Kohn

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Maximum difficulty isn't the same as optimal difficulty.
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When test scores go up, we should worry, because of how poor a measure they are of what matters, and what you typically sacrifice in a desperate effort to raise scores.
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Children, after all, are not just adults-in-the-making. They are people whose current needs and rights and experiences must be taken seriously.
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To feel controlled is to lose interest.
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Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire is to keep learning.
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Independence is useful, but caring attitudes and behaviors shrivel up in a culture where each person is responsible only for himself.
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Very few things are as dangerous as a bunch of incentive-driven individuals trying to play it safe.
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If unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm are present, praise isn't necessary. If they're absent, praise won't help.
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The overwhelming number of teachers ...are unable to name or describe a theory of learning that underlies what they do.
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In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they are graduated, at which point we assume they have a house. What they have is a pile of bricks, and they don't have it for long.
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A preoccupation with achievement is not only different from, but often detrimental to, a focus on learning. Thoughts and emotions while performing an action are more important in determining subsequent engagement than the actual outcome of that action.
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Trying to be number one and trying to do a task well are two different things.
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In outstanding classrooms, teachers do more listening than talking, and students do more talking than listening. Terrific teachers often have teeth marks on their tongues.
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We can't value only what is easy to measure measurable outcomes may be the least important results of learning.
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Those who know they're valued irrespective of their accomplishments often end up accomplishing quite a lot. It's the experience of being accepted without conditions that helps people develop a healthy confidence in themselves, a belief that it's safe to take risks and try new things.
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There are different kinds of motivation, and the kind matters more than the amount.
Alfie Kohn
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Grades are a subjective rating masquerading as an objective evaluation.
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Whoever said there's no such thing as a stupid question never looked carefully at a standardized test.
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Punishment and reward proceed from basically the same psychological model, one that conceives of motivation as nothing more than the manipulation of behavior.
Alfie Kohn
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Trying to do well and trying to beat others are two different things. Excellence and victory are conceptually distinct . . . and are experienced differently.
Alfie Kohn