Educational Paradigms: Shifts in Perception at School and at Home

Educational paradigms do not stop in the classroom and in the school. Educational paradigms follow students’ home where they practice what they learn. These educational paradigms become the lens in which students view their environment.

One educational paradigm that students are exposed to more often than not is the See-Do-Get Model— what we SEE (our paradigms), impacts what we DO (our actions), and what we DO impacts what we GET (our results).

Becoming self-aware that our educational paradigms are impacting what we see, what we do, and what we get provides an opportunity for us to know that we can change our educational paradigms in our lives and in our family culture.

Educational Paradigms

The educational paradigms that can be used at home and at school are:

1. The Paradigm of Leadership
2. The Paradigm of Potential
3. The Paradigm of Change
4. The Paradigm of Motivation
5. The Paradigm of Education

The Paradigm of Leadership

Some paradigms of leadership embrace the notion that leadership is for the few. When this paradigm is embraced at home, more often than not the parents are in charge of all the decisions when it comes to the parent-child relationship. A paradigm shift of this is embracing the notion that everyone can be a leader. Which means parents and children can find opportunities to share leadership.

The Paradigm of Potential

It’s natural for parents to want to encourage their children. A paradigm that can be used at home to encourage this is the paradigm of potential. This paradigm teaches that everyone has genius. We celebrate our differences and focus on each other’s strengths.

The Paradigm of Change

This paradigm focuses on an internal paradigm shift. By creating an environment that nurtures a mindset that, “all change starts with me”, one is creating opportunities at home for students to learn responsibility.

The Paradigm of Motivation

This is a paradigm that teaches parents to empower their students to lead their own learning. Sometimes it seems easier to tell children how to do something rather than letting them figure it out themselves, right? It usually takes time and patience and a release of control to create the space for growth and becoming. Also, the process most likely involves failing, which is really just a step along the way to success, but nevertheless could be hard to let happen. However, think of the development and confidence that could be gained if we let our children have an opportunity to lead their own learning.

The Paradigm of Education

Last but not least is the paradigm of education. This paradigm focuses on developing the whole child, not just developing them in academics. This includes developing them socially and emotionally so that they learn to develop the soft skills needed for success in the future.

As parents, we are our children’s first teachers. Whether we like it or not, we are always modeling, always being an example. We have the opportunity to nurture our children not only academically, but also emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

I invite you to become self-aware about what you are seeing. Take time today to stop and identify what is influencing the way you are seeing things. Do you like the results you are getting? If you don’t love your results, I invite you to consider an educational paradigm shift. Remember, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.

In conclusion, there are three basic things that will influence and shape our families. First, our values, which are the things that are most important to us. Values give our families a compass. Second, our views, also known as our paradigms. Third, our habits, which are the things we do over and over again. Sometimes we don’t even realize we are doing what we do just because it’s what we’ve always done! We can build successful families based on identifying and aligning our values, views, and habits with what is most important to our own unique families. This will help us create an inspiring leadership culture in our homes.