According to Skinner (1984), American education is failing because teachers do not know
how to teach effectively. Skinner (1984) stated, “teachers must learn how to teach, and they must be taught by schools
of education” (p. 950).
Skinner's
recommendations for improving teaching practices involve allowing students to
move at their own pace in their learning discovery process, teaching at the appropriate level, clearly
articulating the learning objectives, and designing programs of study that
provide immediate reinforcement of learning.
Implementing these teaching strategies would allow teachers more time
to concentrate their efforts on teaching.
Skinner
would be ashamed of American education today.
However, I do not think he would be surprised by his findings. In the article, Skinner (1984) continually noted how
discovery of improvements has a significant lag in time until the eventual
implementation. Skinner advocated for
the use of teaching machines (computers) that would provide programmed instruction. The teaching machines present the material
through a self paced module in small increments that immediately validates
learning by providing direct student feedback.
As a result, teachers have more time to teach.
Skinner's recommendations
are being implemented at the School of One.
The Skinner article provides the foundation for the philosophy of the
School of One. Skinner and the School of
One believe that all students have different needs, should not progress until
mastery of content, need a personalized curriculum, should use computers to
assist in learning, and teachers need more concentrated teaching time. All these components are present in the
philosophy of Skinner and the School of One. I think Skinner would be thrilled
to observe the innovative teaching approach that is taking place at the School
of One.
Skinner is
clear on his thoughts about free will.
He believed that the external state (environment) is the reason things
happen, and the internal state (free will) does not contribute to ones
behavior.
Skinner, B.
F. (1984). The shame of American education. American
Psychologist, 39(9), 947-954.
That is an excellent point that you brought in to your post, that Skinner wouldn't be surprised by his findings because of the lag time with implementation. I forgot about that until I read it again here, so thank you for bringing it back to the surface for me. My only question would be, "Will it take us another 30 years to implement it?". I guess one teacher as a time is better than none at all!
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