Neither rewards nor punishments can push someone to approach their true potential. In fact, rewards and punishments are significant obstacles to achieving one’s potential. That is why our current, compliance-based school model—with its endless array of rewards and punishments—can’t lead even some students to their full potential, let alone all students.
The only thing preventing us from having schools that will unleash the potential of every child is the entrenched institutionalization of the current model. We don’t change because so few people believe we can change.
In Know Power, Know Responsibility, Kevin Miller reveals the way forward. He provides a comprehensive explanation of how our current factory model of school is limiting the individual and collective potential of entire generations of children. He then illustrates an alternative model in which children are granted power over—and take responsibility for—their own learning, growth, and development. He provides counterarguments to the reasons that will arise for why replacing the factory model can’t be done. Finally, Kevin offers a clear path for any community that chooses to reinvent their school model to allow every child to unleash her or his full potential.
Kevin Miller is founder and director of Know Power, Know Responsibility LLC, an organization dedicated to helping everyone unleash their potential. He is on a mission to help every community design a school model that will unleash the potential of all their children. Kevin is an educator, US Army officer, and combat veteran whose 40-year journey in education included being a student, teacher, principal, charter school developer, and education consultant. A renowned educator and speaker, he is passionate about helping individuals and organizations discover and grow their power so they can take responsibility for unleashing their potential. For more information, visit knowresponsibility.com.
“Kevin Miller’s book is a remarkable, insightful, and beautifully crafted work. His passion for the future of education and the children who rely on us to get it right is clear. Often provocative, hugely well-researched, and skillfully written, Kevin has created a must-read for anyone interested in the future of our children. There are many books written about education, but very few that make such a powerful and clear case for real transformation. I urge you all to dive in and then to take action.” —Richard Gerver, award-winning speaker, author of Education: A Manifesto for Change, Creating Tomorrow’s Schools Today, and Simple Thinking
“An education veteran offers a new vision for a holistic system of learning . . . Miller’s arguments are based on both personal experience and substantial research into the history of education and the psychology of learning . . . Miller is a strong writer who assumes his readers are both open-minded and well intentioned . . . resulting in a compelling combination of optimism and realism . . . the work is a well-crafted and thought-provoking analysis of the structural shortcomings of the current designs of schools, classrooms, and assessments. An effective, far-reaching argument for revamping the way students learn in the U.S.” —Kirkus Reviews
