Tea Time with Skinner

I had a great conversation today with an old friend over lunch.  We are both educators, we are both enthusiastic about educational theory and practice, and though we don’t always see eye to eye, we always enjoy our conversations (or, as we often call them, our “duels”).  Today, the topic of behaviorism came up.  Just to tip my hand, I am somewhat of an admirer of B.F. Skinner (with some qualifications), and my friend is an avid constructivist who pastes posters of Dewey and Kilpatrick all over his bedroom walls!  Since behaviorism continues to be one of the most enduring debates in education (with immediate implications for classroom teachers, whether they be gifted, general education, or special education), I thought that, as a postscript to my conversation, I'd highlight a few of the insights of behaviorism that I have found particularly valuable, with a word of caution about each.  I don't deny that these reflect my own worldview precommitments, but we are talking about theory here.  No theory is value-neutral.  I invite discussion and disagreement:

1. Since food, shelter, and warmth are basic needs, there is certainly a basic reinforcement principle innate to human beings.  HOWEVER, human beings are complex.  They are biological, but they are also cognitive and moral.  Theories of learning that stop with behavior do not adequately account for value or morality, unless morality is defined in terms of behavior that increases survival.

2. Behaviorism allows teachers to provide predictable educational environments for students, as expected behaviors and potential consequences are clearly defined.  HOWEVER, behaviorism alone, does not account for mitigated responses to mitigating factors (i.e., mercy, exceptions to the rule, etc.).

3. Behaviorism allows the teacher to control student behaviors in order to build effective classroom management.  HOWEVER, behaviorism alone ignores the morally instructive aspects of rewards and punishment, focusing instead on behavior manipulation (as a teacher, I want to instruct students to act in a certain way because it reflects civic virtue, not merely because it is a conditioned impulse).

4. Behaviorism, like no other theory, recognizes the tremendous relationship between environment and behavior.  HOWEVER, by itself, behaviorism is mechanistic and fatalistic, removing the possibility of free, responsible choices.

Behaviorism emphasizes the importance of external considerations on learning, but it yields its greatest benefits when it is observed alongside other learning theories, like social cognitive theory, which emphasizes the interaction of external considerations and internal considerations.  When dealing with the classroom application of learning theories, educators (particularly young educators who are full of energy, optimism, and often times, opinions) would do well to remember that all theories are, in themselves, reductionistic.  Taken in isolation, they represent only a piece of the complex puzzle of human learning and cognition.