Cries for Social Efficiency in the Pedagogical Arenas of the Early Twentieth Century and the Early 1960s.

The history of U.S. pedagogy involves episodes in which psychology and education have shared a common goal, specifically, to understand how children learn. Although the marriage between psychology and education has not always been a smooth one, in general, the effects produced by this union on education have been beneficial to children. Most instructional methods currently implemented in classrooms are predicated on constructivism because it has been proven successful in helping students learn more effectively. Although constructivism is currently popular in education, behavioral science was once touted as a medium for improving the quality of education in the United States by the scientific curriculum writers. This paper examines why the scientific curriculum writers of the early 20th century and later the President's Science Advisory Committee of 1962 (PSAC) championed the use of behavioral science in U.S. education. Before an analysis of these questions, the paper conducts a review of the historical background describing the entry of behaviorism into the pedagogical arena during the early 20th century. (Contains 46 notes.) (BT)