Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Posted by Picasa

2 comments:

  1. Hi Allan,
    It's nice to see another inteligent and aware person in this country advocating Kohn's ideas. He is not well known even among the professional community of child psychologists, so it seems.
    What kind of work do you do with parents and children exactly? (in which facilities etc.)
    I read Kohn's "Punished by Rewards" and watched his lecture on "Unconditional Love". I saw his name in Solter's "The Aware Baby". I also read Arthur Janov's "Primal Scream". These and other books lead me to see that "the system" and "the people" need radical change, but starting in school is a bit late in my opinion. Things need to be done from day one in a child's life, in order to enable well being.
    I am an engineer in profession, but trying to make a career change into psychobiology (have finished two years of B.A. in behavioral sci.).
    I would like to know if there is an organization of some sort advocating these issues you discuss, so I may take part in activities. I raise my 5 year old son with these notions in mind (of the books I read) and am always sorry to see how little effect they have on the majority, who is mostly unaware, and happy to stay that way.
    Sincerely,
    Nava Arad

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nava,

    I support parents and teachers via the internet. I took responsibility for the Foundation for Children with Behavioral Challenges (FCBC) parenting forum which advocates the Collaborative Problem solving approach. FCBC joined up with Thinkkids from Mass General. I contribute to the forums there and to other groups as well , answering and responding to questions both on the forum and by PM - private mail. see my Blog - children do well if they can

    I am hoping to be more directly involved with parents and teachers here in Israel , maybe support groups , lectures etc Maybe we could collaborate in spreading the word.

    Alfie Kohn's work is based a lot of Deci and Ryan - Self Determined Theory SDT . Avi Assor and Guy Roth from the Ben Gurion University Education department are SDT researchers and lectures. Alfie Kohn has quoted them in his books and articles.

    There is the Israeli School for Democracy which is constructivist in its approach.

    Imho parents and teachers get it more right with preschoolers than older kids because learning at that age is more informal and child directed. I do believe it is never too late to make that paradigm shift.

    I know more about cyber communities and orginizations that advocate what I write about and find the discussion helpful and stimulating than actual orginizations.

    If you would like to discuss this further my email is AllanKatzblog@gmail.com.

    Good luck with your academic studies and enjoy learning with your family

    Warmest regards,
    Allan Katz

    ReplyDelete