Books like No contest by Alfie Kohn

Punished by Rewards explores how rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation in children, employees, and other settings, drawing on behaviorist theory and practical examples.

Robert Axelrod’s classic work examines how cooperation can arise among self‑interested actors—ranging from individuals to nations—without central enforcement, using game theory and real‑world examples.

Alfie Kohn critiques conventional discipline tactics and proposes a collaborative approach that empowers students to shape caring classroom communities.

Do men commit murder because they are victims of a society gone haywire? Is gang violence the product of poverty? Overcrowding? Why is rape so prevalent across cultures? And what draws men into war? In this ambitious book, Michael Ghiglieri, a biologist and protege of Jane Goodall, takes on these questions - and many others - in an attempt to unearth the roots of human aggression. Drawing on literally thousands of sources, from scientific journals to personal interviews, as well as his own experience as both a primatologist and a soldier, her explains why males are far more aggressive than females: male violence is largely innate, a product of millions of years of evolution. But, he warns, we are not genetic robots, forever destined to rob, rape, and kill. Ghiglieri's message is ultimately a hopeful one: by acknowledging the biological underpinnings of human nature, and then moving toward policies that are based on this understanding, we can finally hope to end the vicious cycle of violence that plagues us.

Argues against the "tougher standards" rhetoric and the current practice of teaching to standarized tests in favor of helping students become more critical, creative thinkers.

This opens to the wrong book: Robert S. Eliot's From Stress to Strength.

Synopsis: Stressing the positive, creative aspects of power and innocence, Rollo May offers a way of thinking about the problems of contemporary society.