From the teacher centred and learning centred to the development centred paradigm

1. From the teacher centred and learning centred to the development centred paradigm Towards a rationale for business education in the 21st century

2. Introduction • ‘Beyond Teaching and Learning’

3. Some questions • What is the most viable way to approach higher education in the coming years and decades? How do we extract maximum value for learners as well as for other stakeholders in the educational enterprise? How do we best utilize the educational process to help human beings develop toward their full potential and become highly functional and appropriately mature members of the human community?

4. The way of education so far: • The teaching centred model • The learning centred model

5. Teaching centred model • TCM focuses on the instructor’s role, behaviors, and impacts. This model makes the instructor the focal point of the educational process; it is about the transmission of information and knowledge from the wise, omniscient sage to eager students who hoover up this knowledge.

6. Learning centred model • LCM focuses on cultivating students’ capacities to solve problems, to guide their own learning (especially on a life-long basis), and to seek information on an as-needed basis.

7. Which is the best approach and why? • TCM V LCM

8. Frank McCourt’s answer

9. Possibly the LCM, but.. • The learner often has some influence on how he/she learns, but what he/she is expected to learn is set by professional and institutional standards. Students failing to meet these standards are deemed unfit for the field of study or the resulting profession

10. Alternative educational ends • ‘to help people develop their capacities to deal with future uncertainties,’ or ‘to help people develop the capacity to balance their pursuit of self-interests with their obligations to the broader societal community,’ or ‘to help people to develop their character,’ or ‘to help people acquire the competencies needed for the profession of their choice,’ or ‘to help people develop their capacities for guiding and leading people and change,’ or ‘to help people develop their capacities to transcend cultural boundaries in a global society,’ or ‘to help people develop into the best human beings that they can be,’ or ‘to help people learn to live and love well.’ The key operative word here is develop!

11. Development • Development depends on each individual’s initial educational capacities and motivations, and the outcomes that are achieved become diversified.

12. The Development centred paradigm • DCP focuses on the fundamental universal process of how human beings develop from immaturity to maturity, from less capable individuals to highly functional individuals

13. The foundation of the DCP • Imagine a world with a strong emphasis on natural human development and facilitation of that process  and doing so just-in-time. • Development viewed as a process of ‘figuring out’. • Development is also fueled by curiosity and disbelief without curiosity and disbelief the world would still be be perceived as flat!

14. The DCP and purpose of education – back to Mike and Sandra • “In a nutshell, we assert that the purpose of education  especially higher education  is to facilitate and foster the development of human beings into functionally mature individuals. When people become functionally mature individuals, not only do the learners themselves directly benefit but many other stakeholders directly benefit as well.”

15. Functionally mature individuals defined • “We define a functionally mature individual as a person who knows who s/he is, knows what s/he wants, and is not afraid to go out and get it without forgetting to consider others or the bigger picture. Functionally mature individuals are extraordinarily capable of independent thought, decisions, and actions. Still, they recognize and appreciate their interdependence with other human beings. They provide the quintessential example of people who develop their interests, curiosities, and talents so that they are effectively equipped to lead meaningful, productive, satisfying, high quality lives as members of the human community.”

16. Functionally mature individuals... • are self-aware • proactively reflect on situations, attitudes, and behaviors, and use those reflections to guide decisions and actions • are actively aware of the synergistic relationship between emotion and intellect. • consider alternate perspectives. • are aware of the moral implications of their decisions and actions.

17. Functionally mature individuals... • balance self-interests with the interests of other individuals, communities, and society at large • are genuinely willing to risk making mistakes and to learn from them • know when to let go of disappointment, anger, and/or grudges that get in the way of achieving their goal, that cause them to lose focus, and/or that might significantly change the desired solution or outcome. • can deal effectively with uncertainty.

18. Functionally mature individuals • are flexible in switching between behaviors and knowing when a specific behavior is appropriate or inappropriate • know how to act in any type of situation, either personally or professionally

19. Implications for the role of the teacher? Perhaps not the Gove way....

20. Implications for the role of the teacher • To inspire a passion among learners for self-determination of, personal control over and personal responsibility for their own development. • To help students assess their interests, talents, and curiosities. • To trigger students’ interests. • To challenge students. • To facilitate the development of the learners’ self-determined personal educational format. • To guide/help students figure out which competencies are critical for credentialing purposes.

21. Implications for the role of the teacher • To encourage learners to meaningfully and substantially expand their developmental horizons by incorporating into their personal educational format those activities which capitalize on the learners’ interests, curiosities, and talents. • To facilitate encounters with ‘role models’ that fit the student’s desired development. • To serve learners by effectively responding to their requests for information, guidance, and/or needed specialized instruction.

22. Implications for the role of the teacher • To respond to learners’ requests for instructional modules that address their interests, needs, and desires, and/or are critical for credentialing. • To offer reflection opportunities, both guided and unguided. • To collaborate with learners in assessing their progress toward fulfillment of the learners’ self-determined personal educational format. • To be effective role models of the defining characteristics of functionally mature individuals.

23. How close to achieving this are we in the Business School?

24. Some examples... • The dissertation at level 7 and the project at level 6 provide ownership of the ‘what’ as well as the ‘how’ • ‘Working in the lifestyle sector’ at level 5 encourages students to pursue their interests in the food sector outside of the university • Consultancy projects at level 7 immerse students in the collaborative, messy, and situated process of personal knowledge development • The Venture Matrix emphasises collective creativity and engagement with the outside world