According to advocates of behaviorism in educational practices, believing in a sense of freedom is refusing to acknowledge how our experiences and environment greatly affect the way we think, learn, and act. In the 12th Edition of Noll’s Taking Sides: Educational Issues, Skinner sees freedom resulting from the scientific reshaping of the environment that influences us (50). Since, according to this perspec

This debate discusses whether students should be required by law to attend school for a around a dozen years. The question is whether or not today’s schools are a thing of the past, outdated and in dire need of reconstruction. Compulsory education has been justified by saying it is a right of every student to attend school. The problem lies in who else but that specific person should exercise that right? On the other hand, if students were not required to go to school, would it instead allow them to roam free without any guidance, and consequently dooming them to an unfulfilled life? (88.)

I am an advocate of behaviorism in educational practices because I feel that in a classroom, I am more motivated to learn from my environment than solely from my own inner desires. For example, I may want to do well in a class, but if I have the competition of others around me, I am much more motivated to succeed. It provides me with an added reason to want to do well. I will agree that I believe inner commitment is important, but I believe my defense is more credible because it only adds something to this argument, it does not take away. All I’m saying is that yes I am committed to doing certain things, but it is essentially my environment that makes me act one way or another. That is what makes me decide how to shape my life in the long run. I agree with Skinner in that control is the true gateway to freedom (50.) I believe that in order to have an effective classroom, it must also be a structured classroom. Giving students guidelines and motivation to learn will only give them reason to do so, therefore becoming efficient learners.

Opponents of compelled education argue that even though American children score near the bottom in regard to other children around the world, we still do better than most societies in every other area. This suggests that our society is prospering in spite of bad education. Therefore, why compel education if it is not benefitting the society? Maybe actually reversing the law of compelled education will result in an even more prosperous economy anyway. Opponents also suggest that since our nation has become increasingly more familiar with the idea of free agents, that our education system should be driven that way as well. School attendance is one of the few things that our government forces its people to attend by law. If the government does not force people to vote, for example, why force them to go to school if they do not desire to do so? Education in the past served as a means of training students to obey rules and respect authority. It taught them how to avoid the consequences that came with disobedience. While this may have been sufficient for training factory workers and the old economy, the new economy involving free agency requires a completely different look at education and how it’s taught, if at all.

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