A system based on Behaviourist values (however weakened they have become) will not reform itself. The key to transforming our education systems is the realisation – individual by individual – that there is a better way of engaging students which ensures that they all willingly do their best work whilst avoiding disruptions. Not only does more learning take place but there is a greater, and shared, sense of wellbeing.
Read MoreIn my book Red Brain Blue Brain, I describe how the ‘red brain’ is created by our being subjected to reward and punishment as we go through childhood and our childhood mind, rather than simply fading away as the adult mind emerges, persists into adulthood hedged around with all sorts of triggers and automatic responses. When the ‘red brain’ triggers we only have access to what the childhood mind had access to – we become self-focused, usually anxious or fearful and prone to rumination.
Read MoreLearning to focus (on a task, on an activity, on instructions, etc.) is an important step in a young child’s development and preparation for their formal learning journey. Under the Behaviourist paradigm, young children learn to focus by the straight application of reward and punishment.
As this paradigm has weakened, we see increasing numbers of children growing up with a limited capacity to focus.
Read MoreThe Behaviourist paradigm is based on the use of reward and punishment to shape behaviour and gain attention and relies on the pain-pleasure principle which many living creatures, including all primates and humans, respond to.
The teacherly authority principle is species specific to homo sapiens and affords willing collaboration around shared attention and self-regulated behaviour.
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