THE NEED FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT IN EDUCATION

Assumptions, and the set of assumptions we call a paradigm, are another, very important, matter in transforming education.

TASK:

List the assumptions about education that you think are ‘hidden’ and rarely made explicit in your society.

At random I suggest a few assumptions that are made but rarely tested.

Children need to go to school in a special building called a school.

The State is the best body to arrange almost everything.

Children should sit in desks in rooms in groups of approximately thirty.

Socio-economic prowess and status should be the over-ruling driver of education.

The spiritual and moral require few resources, little time, low status and can in effect be done as a ‘bolt-on’ extra (the message in effect is that socio-economic skills are always more important than ‘character’) Etc.

See HERE for a basic account of the idea of a paradigm shift.

In 1962, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution, and fathered, defined and popularized the concept of “paradigm shift” (p.10). Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather s a “series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions”, and in those revolutions “one conceptual world view is replaced by another”.

Think of a Paradigm Shift is a change from one way of thinking to another. It’s a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.

To shift or not to shift that is the question – do we need to move toward a new paradigm of education?

My model is based on a set of assumptions which I have made as explicit as possible.

I make the assumption here that we have an old paradigm of education in the UK/the world and that we need a new one to contribute toward the kind of transformations that are desired – greater security and peace, more equitable development, more effective care of the vulnerable, less corruption, violence, suffering etc.

Others might question the assumption that we need a new paradigm but we should remember that when an old paradigm is hidden, and its assumptions untested it is like the 9/10 of an iceberg that is below the surface.

When an old paradigm is really outdated however many bits of ‘tarting up’ are bolted to the face of the old paradigm and its insufficiencies remain.

It is the needs and insufficiencies of the present time indicate the characteristics that the new paradigm of education should address.

This could be as radical as the difference between Newtonian physics and post-Einsteinian physics.

However part of the shift includes re-claiming past wisdom – and making it re-newed.

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All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD. Summaries are HERE