Analysis of a National Policy for Education according to Skinner

Abstract

B. F. Skinner was a scientist concerned about education. In the present study Skinner`s publications are used as a parameter to analyze the decree Plano de Metas Compromisso Todos pela Educação (All committed do education) (Brasil, 2007). Based on the reading and analysis of Skinner`s writings and the selected documents, fifteen themes were identified, such as: student’s assessment, pace of instruction, student`s permanence in school, drop-out, teacher’s training and teacher’s assessment. Compatibilities between Skinner’s propositions and those of the decree were verified, which, on one side, points out to the possibility that the new educational practices produced by the decree might generate an improvement of instruction; and, on the other hand, suggests a possible contribution of behavior analysis to the proposition and evaluation of public policies. Thus, this work points out to a way to implement the approach of behavior analysts to government programs suggesting how proposals produced by behavior analysis could be applied to achieve the objectives of such programs.