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Kohn's Zone

Kohn's Zone

Auteur(s): Alfie Kohn
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 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 conversations with leading experts in education. Watch this space for new episodes, which will appear as if by magic every two weeks or so. You can listen here, or, better yet, on the podcast’s home, AlfieKohn.org/podcasts, which offers other resources. And to support us, please visit https://coff.ee/kohnszone. PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Ultraviolet Audio. ART: Abi Kohn.Copyright © 2025 by Alfie Kohn Relations Science Sciences sociales Éducation des enfants
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  • The Failure of Failure

    The Failure of Failure
    Sep 15 2025
    September 15, 2025 The Failure of Failure The notion that kids today have it too easy and would benefit from more experiences with failure is no longer a surprising, contrarian claim; it has become the conventional wisdom. But it's dead wrong on two levels: Most children deal with frustration and failure quite a lot, and those experiences tend not to be beneficial, according to research. Either naïveté or conservative ideology leads many adults to believe that when students fall short, they'll react by trying harder next time. But more commonly students are trapped in a vicious cycle such that they're even more likely to fail again -- and they're also apt to lose interest in what they're doing and to prefer easier tasks. Educators and parents would do well to realize that the supposed benefits of failure are vastly overrated. RESOURCES: Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach, "Not Learning from Failure - the Greatest Failure of All," Psychological Science 30 (2019): 1733-44 Lauren Eskreis-Winkler et al., "The Exaggerated Benefits of Failure," Journal of Experimental Psychology - General 153 (2024): 1920-37 Ann K. Boggiano et al., "Competing Theoretical Analyses of Helplessness," Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 55 (1993): 194-207 A note from Alfie Kohn: I made two decisions when I decided to start this podcast. The first was not to accept ads. The second was to avoid putting certain episodes behind a paywall (or offering special content only to those who pay). But this means that I depend on the generosity of everyone who listens to help cover the production costs. So: Can you afford a modest contribution -- ideally on a regular basis, since a podcast, after all, is not a one-shot event? If so, I'd be grateful if you'd support the project with whatever amount seems fair to you. (Your generosity will also confirm the thesis of my book The Brighter Side of Human Nature.) Oh, and if you enjoy the podcast, please tell other people about it. Thanks! Please click the button below to donate. If you don’t see a button, please go to this page (https://coff.ee/kohnszone). Donate PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Ultraviolet Audio ART: Abi Kohn
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  • Bad Signs

    Bad Signs
    Sep 1 2025
    September 1, 2025 Bad Signs The posters and signs adorning school walls speak volumes about the people who put them there, revealing a surprising amount about their views of children, their assumptions about learning, and even their beliefs about human nature. There's the enforced positivity of slogans that basically tell students: "Have a nice day....or else," the individualistic worldview of inspirational slogans with their messages of strenuous uplift, the chirpy banalities airily informing kids that structural barriers don't exist: All they need is perseverance and a dream, so they have only themselves to blame if they fail to achieve greatness. Nothing preserves the current arrangements of power more than messages that ignore the current arrangements of power. To see this principle in action, just visit a school -- particularly one in a low-income neighborhood -- and read the writing on the walls. RESOURCES - Demotivators: https://despair.com/collections/posters - Barbara Ehrenreich: Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America (Metropolitan, 2009) (https://tinyurl.com/yr9vew3u) A note from Alfie Kohn: I made two decisions when I decided to start this podcast. The first was not to accept ads. The second was to avoid putting certain episodes behind a paywall (or offering special content only to those who pay). But this means that I depend on the generosity of everyone who listens to help cover the production costs. So: Can you afford a modest contribution -- ideally on a regular basis, since a podcast, after all, is not a one-shot event? If so, I'd be grateful if you'd support the project with whatever amount seems fair to you. (Your generosity will also confirm the thesis of my book The Brighter Side of Human Nature.) Oh, and if you enjoy the podcast, please tell other people about it. Thanks! Please click the button below to donate. If you don’t see a button, please go to this page (https://coff.ee/kohnszone). Donate PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Ultraviolet Audio ART: Abi Kohn
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    26 min
  • Confusing Harder with Better

    Confusing Harder with Better
    Aug 15 2025
    August 15, 2025 Confusing Harder with Better What do the following have in common? a) parents who don't seem particularly concerned about whether what their kids are doing in school is engaging or meaningful, but are quick to complain if their assignments aren't sufficiently challenging b) people who assume that Advanced Placement classes must be the best that a high school has to offer just because these classes are really tough c) proponents of school reform who use the language of "rigor" and "raising the bar" d) legislators and administrators who require students to take standardized tests that many successful adults would struggle to pass The common denominator here is the deep-rooted assumption that, where schooling is concerned, higher quality is basically equivalent to greater difficulty. This episode of Kohn's Zone explores how profoundly this misconception has shaped our understanding of schooling. A note from Alfie Kohn: If you've been enjoying, or at least listening to, the podcast but have put off doing your part to support it, I am pleased to inform you that it is not too late to do so. It will also not be too late tomorrow, but doing so today would be even better. Microphones, as my father might have said, do not grow on trees. Please consider a modest contribution -- ideally on a regular basis, since a podcast, after all, is not a one-shot event -- to keep us ad-free and unpaywalled. Thanks! Please click the button below to donate. If you don’t see a button, please go to this page (https://coff.ee/kohnszone). Donate PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Ultraviolet Audio ART: Abi Kohn
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    25 min
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