Could John Stuart Mill Have Saved Our Schools?
John Stuart Mill was an intellectual powerhouse,whose work included studying logical thinking and setting forth the argument for freedom of expression. Engelmann and Carnine draw on Mill's logical method (as well as on careful analysis of teaching experience) to show how teaching can be successful when it is done on a sound, scientific basis. Their book also warns that poorly-designed teaching can easily lead to students learning falsehoods. Here is a book on the logic of teaching that is a hugely important contribution to the literature on effective teaching practices. --Williamson M. Evers, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution;<br / --Williamson M. Evers, Research Fellow Hoover Institution, Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education.After reading Engelmann and Carnine's new book with that interrogative title I'm convinced that the answer is emphatically, Yes, with their help. Mill himself was home schooled by his father and not exposed to anything resembling our public school systems; however, in 1843 Mill published a system of logic that in a perfect world would have influenced the thinking of educators for generations. Engelmann and Carnine show very clearly that student learning is a logical process, and that many instructional designs overlook that critical fact. They explain how logical principles and empirical data collected during field testing are both necessary in instructional program development. The book is highly readable and well-supported with examples. Indeed, John Stuart Mill could yet save our schools, but only if Engelmann and Carnine's book is read -- by the educational policymakers who are charged with making decisions about instructional programs, by educational philanthropists and foundations that wish to see their grant-making efforts finally result in student gains, and by parents who wish they had the ammunition to become effective voices in their local schools. --Stan Metzenerg, Ph.D. Dept of Biology California State University-Northridge