Fiery words from designers of Direct Instruction, a scripted behaviorist instructional model which competed with various reform models in the largest educational study ever conducted. It trampled all other models in every measure—including student affect! andymatuschak.org/files/1988-Eng
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Is the claim that children can’t learn language w/o systematic instruction? If so, did schools preceded language? I recall reading children not only pick up language w/o instruction, but will generate languages in their absence such as children creating sign languages.
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No, the claim is weaker than that. E.g. for students who have grown up in households/communities with minimal attention or conversation (and who therefore possess language deficits), direct instruction remediated those deficits more reliably and rapidly than other methods.