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March 15, 2026
Friendly Excursions into Disequilibrium
Enforced harmony is counterproductive. Pushing students (or employees) to come to agreement prematurely tends to undermine learning (or produce bad decisions). Sometimes that's motivated by a desire to avoid conflict. But conflict handled carefully is not only tolerable; it's valuable. What's problematic is debate - disagreement where the point is not to learn or seek the truth but to win. The ideal arrangement in a classroom (or workplace) is cooperative conflict, where spirited disagreement is non-adversarial and nested in a caring…
Website: alfiekohn.org
