On Guidelines for Enriched Programs of Individualized Instruction

1972 NCTE Annual Business Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Background Since language and thought are developed through the child's active involvement in a wide range of learning experiences, the practice in many schools of limiting programs of so-called individualized instruction to passive pencil-and-paper seatwork is particularly disturbing.  Furthermore, excessive dependence on mass-produced study kits has depersonalized language learning for many preschool and elementary school children, restricting their experiences to very narrow, predefined, and predesigned answers and goals.  Be it therefore Resolution Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English establish guidelines for the creation of programs of individualized instruction, at both preschool and elementary school levels, that genuinely facilitate personal, active learning and the fullest possible development and utilization of the child's imaginative and linguistic resources.