“Kohn’s Motivational
Theory”

Alfie Kohn
(October 15, 1957)
• Alfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer in the areas
of education, parenting, and human behavior.
• He is a proponent of progressive education
• Use of competition, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4c86SDW7FQ)
• Standardized testing, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDvBRqYfyBU)
• Grades, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfRALeA3mdU)
• Homework, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npZ4dkt4e4U)
• Traditional schooling. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ts_SRJuEdw)

Biography
• Kohn was born in Miami Beach, Florida
• He earned a B.A. from Brown University in Providence, Rhode
Island in 1979, and an M.A. in the social sciences from the
University of Chicago in Illinois in 1980
• He lives in the Boston area and works as an independent scholar,
writing books about research in the areas of education, parenting,
and human behavior.
• Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education,
and social theory.

KOHN'S IDEAS ABOUT EDUCATION
• Kohn's ideas on education have been influenced by the
works of John Dewey and Jean Piaget.
• He believes in a constructivist account of learning in
which the learner is seen as actively making meaning,
rather than absorbing information,
• He has written that learning should be organized around
"problems, projects, and questions – rather than around
lists of facts, skills, and separate disciplines.“

KOHN THEORY OF MOTIVATION
• Kohn theories are based on intrinsic motivation
• “Extrinsic Rewards Reduce Intrinsic Motivation”
• Alfie Kohn’s work critiques many aspects of traditional education, namely the use
of competition or external factors as motivation.
• Kohn maintains that societies based on extrinsic motivation always become
inefficient over time.
• He argues that positive reinforcement only encourages students to seek out
more positive enforcement, rather than truly learn.
• HE believes that the ideal classroom emphasizes curiosity and cooperation above
all, and that the student’s curiosity should determine what is taught.
• Fundamentally Kohn; and many other advocates against extrinsic
motivators, view the use of rewards (or punishments) as
“Do this and you’ll get that!”

Punishment By Reward
1986
• “Do this and you’ll get that”
• This is the method of "Carrot and Stick" used by our parents
to train the children, by the teachers to educate the students
and by our leaders to manage their employees.
• Kohn demonstrates that people actually do inferior work when they are
enticed with money, grades, or other incentives
• Rewards and punishments are just two sides of the same coin — and
the coin doesn’t buy very much
• Kohn explains, is an alternative to both ways of controlling people

KOHN’S FACTORS TO BUILD INTRINSIC
MOTIVATION
• Collaboration requires that the members of the group or classroom
rally around the true concept of working together for the success of
the group.
•  Content requires that the task, job, or learning experience cover
a fulfilling and rewarding role. (this might be called
Meaningfulness)
•  People must be afforded the maximum amount of Choice in what
and how they perform their tasks or work. This facilitates buy-in and
participation.

Strategies
• Alfie Kohn develop strategies that tap children’s natural desire to
explore ideas:
• Creating A curriculum that is meaningful and relevant to students’
interests
• Bringing students in on the process of making decisions about their
learning
• Transforming classrooms into caring communities where students feel
safe and connected to others, and moving away from traditional
grading in favor of more constructive and learner-centered
approaches

KOHN’S APPROACHES IN THE CLASSROOM
• To implement Kohn’s approaches in the classroom, teachers can allow
students to explore the topics that interest them most.
• Students “should be able to think and write and explore without worrying
about how good they are,”
• Multiple activity centers with various classroom structures for group work
• Displays of student projects
• Students exchanging ideas
• A respectful teacher mingling with students
• Students excited about learning and actively asking questions
• Multiple activities occurring at the same time

Effects of Reward
Rewards Deteriorate Quality:
Studies show that people who
expect to receive a reward do not perform as well as those
who expect nothing.1
Rewards Punish:
Rewarding people is similar to punishment
for another reason. When people do not get the rewards they
were hoping for, they feel punished

Rewards Rupture Relations
• Research and experience show that excellence
depends on teamwork, both because of the exchange
of ideas it fosters and the climate of social support it
creates.
• But the scramble for rewards -- particularly when they
are made scarce, creating competition -- destroys this
valuable cooperation.

Rewards Ignore Reasons
• To solve productivity problems, executives must
understand the causes. Are workers unable to
collaborate effectively?
• You don't have to ask why the child is screaming, why
the student is ignoring his homework, why the
employee is doing an indifferent job. All you have to
do is bribe or threaten that person into shaping

Rewards Deter RiskTaking:
In short, "Do this and you'll get that" makes people
focus on the "that," not the "this.“
Do rewards motivate people?
Absolutely! They motivate people to get rewards the

Rewards Undermine Interest
• Loving what you do is a more powerful motivator than
money or any other good
• Whatever the reason, rewards turn play into work and work
into drudgery.
• Worse, when rewards corrode intrinsic motivation, workers
have no other reason to put out an effort. This pattern, in
turn, confirms supervisors' beliefs in the need for incentives.
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy

Kohn Principles
Kohn suggests some ways to motivate students :
1. Pupil Autonomy
2. Learning Mastery
3. The acknowledgement of curiosity
4. Choice :workers should participate in making decisions about what
they do.
5. Collaboration: they should be able to work together in effective
teams.

• Show respect for students in order to meet there emotional needs;
• Help students connect through cooperative learning activities,
• Get-to-know you tasks, and
• Reciprocal teaching
• Use classroom meetings to discuss feelings,
• Reflect on lessons, and to stay connected;
• Provide opportunities for whole class activities, such as A newspaper
or art project and school wide activities, such as A food drive or
performance; and finally,
• Reflect on instruction and learning during and after A lesson, during
class meetings, and at the end of A term.