Popular Adult Education Theories

BF Skinner is one of the most celebrated psychologists and is often compared to the more well-known Freud. Skinner was a behavioralist and his views, I find, are the easiest to begin with when first delving into behaviorism because most will find that their upbringing will be at the forefront of their thoughts when reading Skinner’s theory. Skinner felt that behaviorism should shape learning, and he challenged the idea of “inner freedom.” Instead, Skinner believed that learning could be linked to external forces (Anderson, 2010). Skinner believed that any behavior that was followed by a positive consequence would be more likely to occur again. The consequence with the positive effect is called a “reinforcer”. A consequence with a negative effect is a punishment. Skinners’ entire system and logic is based on what is called “operant conditioning”; which is the process of learning through reinforcement and/or punishment (Anderson, 2010).

Behaviorism, in my opinion, is a fundamental part of our learning process as living beings. We need behaviorism, especially operant conditioning, as this is how we learn from a young age what behaviors are acceptable and what aren’t.

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Positive and negative reinforcement is used in parenting. Taking a phone away, giving an allowance, having an outing, being grounded to your room, these are all examples of positive or negative reinforcements that are used by parents across the globe. These techniques are used to teach our children to change their behaviors. To adjust to our expectations of them; to societal expectations of them. However, I don’t think that education can be reduced to being no more than training, than arranging certain stimuli to elicit predetermined responses. If that were true, then people wouldn’t seek to learn more than they are told. There would be no questions about what they’ve learned or why they are being asked to learn it. Humans are innately curious and tend to seek out new information on their own; without being asked to, without it being a requirement. Just because they want to know. This search for knowledge is education, and that squashes the question posed by Elias & Merriam (2005).

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Elias & Merriam (2005) teaches us some of Skinner’s thoughts on education and society. Skinner believes an educational system can ensure the survival of individuals and of society. Furthermore, Skinner felt that education should produce people who can work with one another to design and build a society that minimizes suffering and maximizes the chances of survival (p. 1745). Based on Skinner’s ideas, education plays a huge role in the shaping of culture. Individuals learn how to survive in their environments by learning, being educated, and in doing so, their society survives. Different societies house different cultures, and each culture teaches their people different cultural practices and beliefs that are taught generation after generation. These teachings are what keep that culture alive and thriving. Without educating the next generation of people, those cultural practices and beliefs will eventually die off and just become a part of history.