Education That Works:
The Child is Always Right, Introduction

Edward L. Anderson, Ph.D.

Traditional approaches to education see the teacher or textbook as a broadcaster presenting information to student receivers. While successful with many students, these methods fail to produce uniformly good students and fail miserably with a large minority. These failures are rationalized by deficiencies in the student: inadequate preparation, broader social forces, broken families or just being a “slow learner.” But this is “heads I win, tails you lose.” If they learn, our educational system did it; if they don’t, it’s the student’s fault.

In business, “the customer is always right.” If customers don’t return, we don’t try to change them; we find out how we can do better! What would happen if we assumed the student is always right? That it’s the teaching not the students that needs revision?

For thirty years, an unheralded group of “behavior analysts” have been doing just that!

Contents:

How do we test for teaching effectiveness?

Why haven't effective methods been adopted?

What has the child taught us in thirty years?

Direct Instruction

Precision Teaching

The Morningside Model

Literacy

Conclusion

References

Edward L. Anderson, Ph.D.
Ed Anderson was among the founders of the Cambridge Center,
and remains one of its most active supporters.
This paper is based upon a talk that Dr. Anderson gave on August 2, 1994,
sponsored by the Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York.

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