Punished by Rewards : The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes, 25th Anniversary Edition

Punished by Rewards : The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes, 25th Anniversary Edition
ISBN: 9781328450524
Publication Date: 31 January 2018

Updated and revised for the twenty-fifth anniversary of publication. The basic strategy we use for raising children, teaching students, and managing workers can be summarized in six words: Do this and you'll get that. We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people in much the same way we train the family pet. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research, Alfie Kohn points the way to a more successful strategy based on working with people instead of doing things to them.

"Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get rewards." Seasoned with humour and familiar examples, Punished by Rewards presents an argument unsettling to hear but impossible to dismiss.

About the Author

Alfie Kohn's published works include Punished by Rewards, No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Beyond Discipline, and What to Look for in a Classroom. Described by Time as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of educational fixation on grades and test scores," he has travelled across the country delivering lectures to teachers, parents, and researchers.