Dr. Phillip Amerine in a hard-hitting article, A Little Pregnant: Alternative Education and Behaviorism, describes a fundamental difference between the operating principles of conventional education called behaviorism and those of alternative education which should be humanistic, learner centered and cooperative.
Amerine faults alternative education when it adopts practices and terminology from conventional education because alternatives should make a clear distinction and should distance themselves from the controlling and harmful practices of the dominant educational system. Some may be offended by his tone but as he says, “Indeed, the article is a bit angry, but then we are talking about the continued disservice and harm to children. Those who have attempted to reason with or influence the traditional model through logic have been left to accept cosmetic changes, hollow verbiage, and continued damage to children! The onslaught of No Child Left Behind, the lockstep programming, and removal of authentic learning from our schools are the true and damaging acts of anger.”
This provocative piece deserves a careful reading as a template for examining and clarifying one’s paradigm or basic beliefs about education and learning. It should be of particular note for those working in the field of learning alternatives.