Correspondence

Abstract

Michael Wallach does not believe that differences in educational philosophy and their associated practices are important. His review of our book, The Psychological Impact of School Experience (HER, May 1970), gives a simplistic picture of the study and of the related educational and psychological issues. He questions whether comparative research should be done at all and argues instead for "high quality schooling, whatever its philosophical approach." We have taken the position that the issue of differential impact is crucial in education, and that the definition of "high quality schooling"—which is indeed a value choice—can come only from explicit consideration of the psychological implications of different approaches and from considerably more knowledge than we now have about the actual consequences of differences in orientation and practice.