Book Recommendations

Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community
by Alfie Kohn, 1996

What is most remarkable about the assortment of discipline programs on the market today is the number of fundamental assumptions they seem to share. Some may advocate the use of carrots rather than sticks; some may refer to punishments as "logical consequences." But virtually all take for granted that the teacher must be in control of the classroom, and that what we need are strategies to get students to comply with the adult's expectations. In this path-breaking book, Alfie Kohn calls these premises into question, and with them the very idea of classroom "management." He questions the assumption that problems in the classroom are always the fault of students who don't do what they are told, suggesting that we might instead reconsider what they have been told to do--or to learn. He shows how a fundamentally cynical view of children lies beneath the assumption that we must tell them exactly how we expect them to behave and then offer "positive reinforcement" when they obey. This is the book that started my deeper thinking about the long-term effects of my classroom discipline policies. Not for beginners, this text is excellent for more experienced educators who are ready to really examine what classroom management should be. ISBN: 0871202700