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The Cult of Individualized Instruction (1977)

Laura Varlas

Although individualized instruction, especially formalized approaches, confers benefits such as clearly defining expectations, checking for learning, and sequencing instruction for mastery, former Council for Basic Education Associate Director George Weber worries that a cult-like devotion toward individualized instruction glosses over some of the drawbacks to this approach.

Read the article: The Cult of Individualized Instruction (PDF)

Weber argues that whole-class instruction affords all students more time with a "live teacher," that individualized instruction would create a mountain of paperwork for teachers, and that schools would be better served by focusing on the fundamental learning needs that all students share.

Weber envisions differentiation as students working in discrete groups or as individuals, often independently. In Weber's view, there is also no common baseline or standard from which learning is individualized. Finally, Weber says that results from individualized instruction are variable, and schools should only take on this complicated approach if there's evidence that it's working.

How do these sentiments ring today? Is individualization driven by blind faith or based on evidence?

In "My Back Pages," we look at important issues through the historical lens of the Educational Leadership archives. ASCD members can access EL issues from 1943 to the present by logging in.

Laura Varlas is a project manager in Newsletters and Special Publications at ASCD.

ASCD Express, Vol. 7, No. 9. Copyright 2012 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.