What is a Paradigm Shift?

According to Joel Arthur Barker, author of the book “Paradigms - The Business of Discovering the Future”, a paradigm is a set of rules and regulations that does two things: (1) it establishes and defines boundaries; and (2) it tells you how to behave inside those boundaries to be successful"

Paradigms are the sum total of the basic assumptions, concepts, conventions, values, protocols, traditions, principles, prejudices, rituals and superstitions that constitute a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them.

Wiktionary describes a paradigm shift then as; “A radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new one, necessitated when new scientific discoveries produce anomalies (inconsistencies) in the current paradigm”. The link to scientific discoveries exists because this term was first coined in 1962 by Thomas Kuhn in his book “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, to describe a change in the basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science.

This paradigm shift in learning is not just a process of turning the current face-to-face certification products into a digital medium and offering it on the global communications platform at the same price and under the same regime conditions. No ...no ... no, this is a revolution by the grassroots people (learners, teachers and industry) whose needs have been marginalised for too long by educational institutions across the world with their government elite focused too intently on their own survival and power needs.

This paradigm shift is a revolution by learners against the grossly inflated price of education, being generated by an inefficient system imploding on itself with its plethora of compliance issues, audit requirements and fashionable dictates of well-meaning but grossly detached government ‘purse string' holders.

 It is a revolution where the learner takes charge of their own learning using the tailored convenience of the internet, much like the people of the 1450’s did with their newly printed books.

It is a revolution for the democratization of knowledge and the overthrow of the outdated and overwhelmed approach of censorship and sterilization by the elite. The revolution has already begun. Triggered in some part by the people of India (outsourcing centre of the world $14billion p.a. service export revenue) devouring learning from the internet and building wealth creating businesses on an electronic platform blind to their credentials but a slavish servant to their global/information age skills and ability. While the rest of the world crashes into recession, their economy continues to grow.

As this revolution spreads, much like the industrial revolution of the 1800’s, it will cross borders and industries rapidly, forcing even main-stream industries to embrace the new learning paradigm or run the risk of obsolesence. Just like the industrial revolution, it will be a 'bloodless' revolution where the stakeholders will simply vote with their feet and 'walk off the farm' , leaving the past educational paradigm behind them.

It is my contention that our education systems the world over, controlled by educational institutions at the behest of the government elite, are too shackled by the old paradigm to embrace this evolving revolution. As Albert Einstein said

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” 

So the revolution will need the innovative help of individuals like entrepreneurs, passionate teacherpreneurs and knowledgeable industry experts to lead the change into the new paradigm – open online learning

"In times of radical change the learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves perfectly equipped for a world that no longer exists." Erik Hoffer