Kohl has found himself both teaching and writing throughout his adult life. He feels that writing is a private matter, education a public one. They play off each other, nurturing and informing each other. Both are a source of energy and give him a feeling of being of use to others. His books published from 1982 to 1999 include "Basic Skills" (Little Brown, Boston, 1982), "Growing Minds" (Harper and Row, New York, 1986), "Making Theater" (Teachers and Writers Collaborative, New York, 1988), "I Won't Learn from You" (The New Press, New York, 1994), and "Should We Burn Barbar?" (The New Press, New York, 1995), and "The Discipline of Hope" (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1998).