The race to win turns us all into losers.

Learning is something students do, NOT something done to students.

Each time I visit such a classroom, where the teacher is more interested in creating a democratic community than in maintaining her position of authority, I’m convinced all over again that moving away from consequences and rewards isn’t just realistic - it’s the best way to help kids grow into good learners and good people.

Independence is useful, but caring attitudes and behaviors shrivel up in a culture where each person is responsible only for himself.

The overwhelming number of teachers ...are unable to name or describe a theory of learning that underlies what they do.

Most of us would protest that of course we love our children without any strings attached. But what counts is how things look from the perspective of the children

In some suburban schools, the curriculum is chock-full of rigorous A.P. courses and the parking lot glitters with pricey SUVs, but one doesn't have to look hard to find students who are starving themselves, cutting themselves, or medicating themselves, as well students who are taking out their frustrations on those who sit lower on the social food chain.