B.F. Skinner and
Carl Rogers
“Teachers must learn how to teach….they need
only to learn more effective ways of teaching.”
-B.F. Skinner
Skinner
• Skinner was a behaviorist who believed in
positive reinforcement rather than
punishment.
• Behaviorism: derived from the belief that free
will is an illusion. Humans beings are shaped
entirely by their environment.
Skinner
• Skinner visited his daughter’s school and was
shocked at the style of learning
• Skinner thought the students needed
immediate feedback on their answers
regardless if it was correct or not
• He also believed that learning should be selfpaced and student focused
Skinner
Skinner noted the “shortcomings” of the 1950s
classroom:
• Aversive stimulation
• Lapse between response and reinforcement
• Lack of a long series of contingencies for
desired behavior
• Infrequency of reinforcement
Teaching Theory
• Clearly specify the action or performance the
student is to learn to do
• Break down the task into small achievable steps,
going from simple to complex.
• Let the student perform each step, reinforcing
correct actions
• Adjust so that the student is always successful
until final the goal is reached
• Continue reinforcement to maintain the student's
performance
B. F. Skinner
• Skinner developed a “teaching machine” in order
to study how students best learn.
• The teaching machine was a mechanical device
that was used to administer a curriculum of
programmed instruction. It housed a list of
questions and a mechanism through which the
learner could respond to each question.
• The learner was rewarded for each correct
answer
REWARDS
• Extrinsic: external rewards such as a smile, a
“good job” or a “pat on the back”
• Intrinsic: internal rewards such as selfconfidence and self-satisfaction
Carl Rogers
• He was named the single most influential
psychotherapist in the past 25 years.
• He is the central figure in the humanistic
orientation.
Humanistic Orientation is a
person-centered theory.
• This theory accentuates the concept of “selfactualization”.
• “Here in this palmlike seaweed was the
tenacity of life, the forward thrust of life, the
ability to push into an incredibly hostile
environment and not only hold its own, but to
adapt, develop, and become itself.”
• Carl Rogers believed that all living beings are
driven to grow.
“Self-Actualization”
• Nurturance of a caregiver
• A natural process
• “Unconditional positive regard” is required
and fosters “conditions of worth”.
• Three criteria for Self Actualization:
Genuineness, Empathy, unconditional positive
regard
A Therapeutic Relationship
• Genuineness- Therapist needs to be Real and
aware of his feelings as well as possible
• Acceptance- Respect and like the person for
who they and as he possesses his personal
feelings the way he chooses.
• Understanding- Empathy with all of the clients
feelings and words as they are.
• Experiential Learning is the understanding
that all human beings have a biological desire
to learn. If the individual fails to learn then it
is not their fault, but it is the problems in the
learning situation.
• Experiential Education is the method of
“learning by doing”.
His Ideas for Education
• We can’t teach another person directly, we can
facilitate his learning.
• The structure and organization of the self appears to
become more rigid under threat. In contrast the self
seems to relax its boundaries when completely free
from threat.
• The most effective educational situation:
• 1) Threat to the self of the learner is reduced a
minimum
• 2) Differentiated perception of the field of
experience is facilitated.
Influence on Teachers
• He gave educators the questions to ask
themselves on how they are participating in
their students learning.
• Allowed educators to see how helpful a
relationship could be in education.