Educational Paradigm Shift Towards Phenomenological Pedagogy

Abstract

The main aim of the educational system is to help individuals improve their own learning to deal with searching suitable ways of improving learning within the educational context. Learning is one of the most important issues in development of individualistic and societal bases. The current education system is based on a positivist paradigm which states that objective knowledge is the best knowledge of our lifeworld and it must be transmitted to younger generations. It is known that the objectivist ideas introduce only the scientific methods of searching for and reaching meaning about a phenomenon. The current educational system also mainly focuses on cognitive development of individuals as if it is the only characteristic of them. These are creating some barriers to free search for and creation of authentic knowledge. In the current education system, there are lots of limitations such as taking attention only to social constructivism and social learning, cognitive development, learning outcomes that rely on an exam-based performance evaluation system for students. However, besides cognitive development, individuals need to develop as a whole, that is as a social being, a creative being, an emotional being, a physical being and an authentic being.

Since the current paradigm has many limitations, a shift in the paradigm is likely to emerge and a new paradigm will be important in the near future. A new paradigm should take into account individualistic intuition, perception, imagination, creation and construction of knowledge. Moreover, a new paradigm should take attention to support the individual as a social being and an authentic being as well as an intellectual being. In this context, phenomenological pedagogy will provide some explanations about educational paradigm shift. Thus, a new educational paradigm needs to be discussed very broadly in many aspects, especially in institutional education contexts by educators, teachers, students and interested people.