In the old paradigm of teaching, the teacher’s knowledge is transferred to passive learners. The absolute, necessary, and sufficient requirement for teachers in this context is complete mastery of the content. The classic classroom is the teacher lecturing and students listening. The students are silent, passive, and in competition with each other.
The new paradigm of teaching is based on the theory and research that have clear applications to instruction. In the new paradigm of teaching, knowledge is actively constructed, discovered, transformed, and extended by students. The teacher’s effort is aimed at developing students’ competencies and talents; education is a personal transaction among students and between teacher and students as they work together. (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1998).
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Comparisons of old and new paradigms of teaching |
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Factor |
Old paradigm of teaching |
New paradigm of teaching |
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Knowledge |
Transferred from faculty to students |
Jointly constructed by students and faculty |
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Students |
Passive vessel to be filled by faculty’s knowledge |
Active constructor, discoverer, transformer of own knowledge |
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Faculty purpose |
Classify and sort students |
Develop students’ competencies and talents |
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Relationships |
Impersonal relationships among students and between faculty and students |
Personal transactions among students and between faculty and students |
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Context |
Competitive/individualistic |
Cooperative learning in classroom and cooperative teams among faculty |
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Assumption |
Any expert can teach |
Teaching is complex and requires considerable training |
The old paradigm of teaching
- transferring knowledge from teacher to student
- filling passive empty vessels with knowledge
- classifying students by deciding who gets which grade and sorting students into categories
- conducting education within a context of impersonal relationships among students and between teachers and students
- maintaining a competitive organizational structure
- assuming that anyone with expertise in their field can teach without training to do so
The new paradigm of teaching
- knowledge is constructed, discovered, transformed, and extended by students
- students actively construct their own knowledge
- teacher effort is aimed at developing students’ competencies and talents
- education is a personal transaction among students and between teachers and students as they work together
- all of the above can only take place within a cooperative context
- teaching is assumed to be a complex application of theory and research
- that requires considerable teacher training and continuous refinement of skills and procedures (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1998).
Reference
Johnson, D., Johnson, R.& Holubec, E. (1998). Cooperation in the classroom. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.