Sherry left a comment on my post Science Lagging? which I thought would be an interesting topic.
It would be interesting to hear just what your college taught about Skinner’s methods, and how these were supposed to play out in curriculum and classroom practice.
Indeed it would. For those who don’t know, I have a degree in education from the University of Kansas which developed the Behavioral Model of instruction, based on B.F. Skinner’s research. The problem is that Skinner’s philosophy was more infused throughout the curriculum than explicitly taught. It is difficult to separate out was said about him and his research because I really don’t remember talking about him much outside of my psych classes. If I were to go back through all of those courses now, I might have a different view, but a lot of it was good instructional practice and I still use bits of it. I’ll address that later.
What do we mean when we say we want to be free? Usually we mean we don’t want to be in a society that punishes us for doing what we want to do. Okay–aversive stimuli don’t work well anyway, so out with them! Instead, we’ll only use reinforcers to “control” society. And if we pick the right reinforcers, we will feel free, because we will be doing what we feel we want!
I can’t help but draw a distinct comparison here to modern society. Out with aversve stimuli…sentences for crimes are getting lighter with increasing focus on societal factors than individual responsibility. What reinforcers “control” society? They seem more like distractions to me, but our entertainment driven culture continually desensitizes partakers to a variety of behaviors, including sex outside of marriage, course language, nudity, homosexuality, and even murder. And I would say that a good deal of us “feel [we are] free, because we [are] doing what we feel we want!”
We do what we feel we want and therefore show little or no concern over increasing state involvement in every aspect of our lives. We do what we feel we want and thus do not care when our property is taken from us and redistributed based on what the state says is for the “common good.” We do what we feel we want and thus show little more than passive distaste for increasing violence in our communities. We do what we feel we want so feel no personal responsibility for our communities, our neighbors, and, increasingly, our own families. So mom and dad both work, Jr. attends daycare, goes to a public school and is involved in who knows how many extra-curricular activities. They sit down to dinner, a little homework and a couple of hours of television and go to bed, feeling they are free.
But is that what true freedom is? Historically, the word “free” is derived from a German concept based on rights and responsibilities. Not on doing what we feel we want. And the bible tells us that “if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Free from sin, free from death, and free to enter into a relationship with the Creator of the universe. Not free to do what we feel we want. Freedom is not an imaginary construct based on what we were trained to desire, but a very real relationship between our God-given rights and responsibilities.
Related Tags: Skinner, homeschooling, home school, public school, education, freedom
Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! 
Amen.
I wrote back in May or 2005, an article I called Author of Liberty. “In spite of all attempts to dishonor the founding fathers intent to honor our Creator, it remains there in dried ink upon our most revered documents for all the world to witness. God is the author of inherent rights, to argue otherwise is folly.”
Freedom, in its true meaning is the right to be obedient to God in order to achieve eternal progression. Thank you for your thoughtful article.
I was sad to read your poor mis-interpretation of Skinner’s writings.
When Skinner compares humans to animals, he is referring to the way that we learn - due to the things in our environment that change immediately after we behave. These consequences can, as you said in the case of teaching children, “bring good to them”, but they can also bring good to others. We actuall learn our principles and values by which we behavior using these “conditioning” (which just means “learning” methods). These values, as you stated, are what we want to teach our children. In Skinner’s book “Verbal Behavior” he talks of the ways in which humans are different from animals, and how this should change our teaching methods when we are dealing with people.
Maybe you should do a little more research and reading (and then maybe edit your posted comment…)
It’s misrepresentations like yours that contribute to why a science founded by Skinner, which has been empirically supported and proven to be effective (in fields such as education, developmental disabilities, industrial orgnizations, geriatric care, and many others)is not more widely disseminated.
I’m sorry you feel this is a misrepresentation, but I disagree with you. As I mentioned in my entry, Skinner was at the core of the teaching philosophy of my university (KU) which helped develop the behavioral model of education.
And, as I mentioned, parts of it are fine. I use parts of it myself. Not everything is all or nothing.
Yes, humans can be conditioned. But that is not the whole of what it is to be educated and we are not free because we think we are doing what we want to do.
I have a philosophical difference with Skinner and that does not mean that I misunderstand or misrepresent him.
And I’m not sure how you can say that his teaching is not more widely disseminated when he is one of the founders of our modern education system.
Thank you for your comments, but there really is no need to post anonymously. I’m not going to attack you, and I doubt my readers would, either.
I remember reading a book by Skinner in high school and thinking it was great—but of course, then I was naive enough to think I could grow up to be one of society’s elite “trainers,” dishing out the conditioning as I saw best, rather than one of the great public mass of “trainees.” Funny how different things look from the other perspective!
What a difference from the teacher who said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me,… and you will find rest for your souls.”