The Shift in Paradigm for Learning

I read two inspiring posts on the  shift in paradigm for learning last week. You may not be a PYP/IB teacher, but the shift in paradigm for learning is the same everywhere. As George Couros says, “Learning is not a one-way street and the places we can learn from have grown exponentially.” The resources, the content, the knowledge is no longer scarce. They are completely abundant; so, schools should no longer act as distributors of knowledge. Our role as educators is not to give students information about the world, but to help them understand the world they live in. It is not the teacher’s job to make meaning for the students anymore. Students should make meaning for themselves. Education is about co-constructing knowledge and building skills together. Instead of focusing on delivering content, we should be facilitators of learning. By being a learner first, educator second; we should demonstrate life-long learning for our students. As Edna Sackson says, “It’s valuable to see everything as an opportunity for learning.”

The videos in these two different posts – one by a PYP teacher, and another by a non-IB teacher/division principal – are telling the same things about the shift in paradigm of learning by giving different examples.

Where did they learn it from? Who cares?