ABSTRACT
Regardless of its “technical merit,” an instructional approach, whether in the field of reading or any other field, can only be justified as part of an overall educational philosophy. The subskills-oriented approaches dominating reading instruction in American schools are clearly rooted in a behaviorist philosophy, where concerns about the learner’s mind or spirit are dismissed as irrelevant. In the behaviorist philosophy, learning is behavior modification, and once the instructor has successfully and lastingly modified the behavior of the learner, education is completed. Nowhere was this basic philosophy expressed more clearly than in B. F. Skinner’s book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971).
