AbstractRecent criticisms of behavioural applications to children's learning may lead teachers to reject their use at a time when, in response to the 1991 Education Act, they are being urged to adopt similar principles to those which underpin a behavioural approach. This article looks at the background to behavioural applications to children's learning and provides a brief description of three approaches (task analysis, direct instruction and precision teaching) which have influenced the practice of many teachers and educational psychologists. The assumptions on which the three approaches are based are discussed, their similarities examined and their interrelationship within a process of continuous assessment considered. The article concludes by discussing the role of a behavioural approach in the light of the National Curriculum.