Glasser’s Choice Theory and Science Education in British Columbia

Abstract

This chapter outlines Glasser’s choice theory (CT), explores connections to other relevant learning theories, and suggests this theory can be applied to the classroom and more specifically to the competencies often considered in a science classroom. CT is an internal control theory that helps explain how and why we make decisions within science classrooms. The chapter also offers ways to ameliorate what Glasser calls schooling, or the practice of making students acquire facts and information that have limited value in the real world, and the maintenance of an educational system that emphasizes external control and punishment. Because both authors are from British Columbia (BC), the most recent version of the science curriculum from BC is used as a backdrop for some of the discussion in the later part of this chapter.