Difficult to Understand Just How

¶ … difficult to understand just how deeply pardigms influence thinking and actions. This paper will discuss the old and new paradigms of education and some of the beliefs contained in them an how these beliefs are operationalized.

Paradigm Evaluation of Learning Environments,

The Old Paradigm

Despsite constantly accelerating social and technological change, theparadigm for education has remained the same since 1900. country needed. At the turn of the century, America was experiencingthe rapid growth of post-Civil Warindustry. In 1913, Henry Ford developed the production line to maximize factory efficiency, and schools eagerly adopted the model to train students who would someday work on the automobile factory lines. Some curriculum writers of the day even wrote ofschools in terms of factory production, referring to the students as the "raw material" and educated adult sas the "final product." The school year remained based on the old agrarian calendar, so students could help out on farms. To many people, American schools seemed to be models of efficiency.

Despite constantly acceleratingsocial and technological change, the paradigm for education has remained essentially static. The basic format of teachers speaking whilestudents listen has remained intactsince ancient times. Socrates, whosemethod of teaching by asking questionsis still reverently taught in schools of education, would feelright at home in most current secondaryschools. Twentieth-centuryAmerica simply combined his timehonoredteaching method with afactory-like setting, all the time ignoringthe onslaught of changingconditions.

However, this view of school as an extension of the factory had its critics from the start. As early as the seventeenth century, educational reformer John Amos Comenius described schools as "the slaughterhouses of the mind." (Comenius, 1992, p. 322). Charles Dickens referred to school methodologies as "childhood with its beauty gone, and only its helplessness remaining." (Dickens 1960, p. 83). As early as the 1880s, future-thinking individuals were calling for changes inthe American schoold educational paradigm. A complete redesign of the educational systemwas warranted as society transitionedfrom an agricultural base toan industrial base. Correspondingand appropriate changes in educationwere not forthcoming. Insteadof developing their own paradigm ofoperation, schools used a variation of the model employed in business and industry.

The United States faces the rigors of the twenty-first century relying on a citizenry armed with an education designed for the conditions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As management expert Peter Senge stated, "The industrial age assembly-line model for education has shaped our schools more than we can imagine -- producing generations of 'knowers,' not lifelong-learners, people beautifully prepared for a world that no longer exists." (Senge, 2000, p. 31).

New Paradigm

What would a new learning paradigm look like? We can get some idea by taking some of the beliefs of the old paradigm and the ways they were operationalized and comparing them with the beliefs of the new paradigms

Old Paradigm vs. New Paradigm Beliefs

Old Paradigm Belief

New Paradigm Belief

Learning is an individual process. This belief is operationalized by the lecture method in which students passively listen to the teacher and assignment of individual project

Learning is social. This is operationalized by the inclusion of discussion groups, group projects in the learning experience

Children learn at the same rate and should be evaluated the same. is Children learn at the same rate and should be evaluated the same.

This belief is operationalized through undue emphasis on standardized knowledge tests for measuring academic progress.

Learning occurs in different ways and at different rates (including developmental). Learning styles are different too. Some children are visual learners, some are kinetic, and some are auditory.

This belief can operationalized by the inclusion of individual choice in mandatory assignment. Some students may feel comfortable with individual project, some may want to work in groups. Some want to write a book report; some may prefer to write a report on a movies

Children are the raw product that must be molded into productive adults and American citizens

Children come to the educational experience with experience and values of their own. Respect must be shown for cultural differences and different belief systems and children should be encouraged to share their culture and values with others.

This belief can be operationalized by "show and tell "exercises in which children share something about their family and culture and by "International Night" in which children bring dishes of their country

Children are lazy; they need to be pushed to learn.

Learning takes place in a safe, supportive, and stimulating environment. This belief is operationalized by maintaining a classroom environment in which students show respect and tolerance for others, evaluating curriculum in term of how well it helps students learn, and the use of incentives, as opposed to discipline, to assure good behavior and academic excellence.

The teachers lectures; the student learns

Learning is the construction of knowledge and the making of meaningful connections through active participation. In real life, people learn more by doing something as opposed to reading or hearing someone talk about it. This belief can be operationalized by drawing parallels between concepts being taught and real-life situations and by including in the curriculum projects that require the active participation of the student

Students need to go to school on a 9 to 5 basis in order to learn

The "school day" will fade. With the advances of technology, educatio nis already ceasing to be seen asplace-bound, 9-to-5 activity. Asynchronous, online learning has made education a 24/7 activity that can be conductedfrom any location with an Internet connectio n.

Teachers teach subjects that they are schooled in; they do not need any profesional experience.

Proven abilityas a professional in the field should be valued as much as the teacher'srecord of academic preparation. Like the institutions they serve, teachers will ultimately be evaluated on thesuccess rate of the students they teach.

A hat it takes to get there.

This belief can be operationalized by encouraging partnerships with local business. Business partnerships can mean anything from offering students internships, job shadowing by teachers and students, guest speakers from industry, workplace visits, and so on.. What is most important is that students are learning about the career paths open to them and w