Spontaneous Schooling and Success in Teaching

Abstract

Investigators who have studied the chaotic literature on teacher effectiveness have occasionally lamented the lack of a coherent theory in the field (1). Such a theory, however tentative, might provide a framework for discussion and lead to new lines of research. In the hope of serving these purposes, we would like to consider a general psychological theory of schooling. We want to try to show how this theory, which covers the whole general phenomenon of schooling, leads to a number of deductions regarding success in teaching. The theory is concerned with the traditional teaching process as it has functioned in primitive and civilized societies from prehistoric times to the present. It may not fully apply to the more mechanized and elaborate teaching process that some people envisage for the future. The general theory is that of spontaneous schooling (2). Starting with the traditional sociological function of the school, this theory attempts to describe the psychological forces responsible for the existence of schools or schooling, and the basic psychological mechanisms by which the school works. Naturally enough, the sociological function of the school is closely related to the role of the school in the survival of the species or group. To have a good chance of survival, members of a group must attain reasonable proficiency in many kinds of behavior. Typically, these ways of behaving, or tendencies, call for nurture or cultivation. It follows, then, that a group is more likely to survive if it has mechanisms for the cultivation of these tendencies.