Education
pp. 125-145
in: Luciano L'Abate (ed), Paradigms in theory construction, Berlin, Springer, 2012Abstract
Understanding the hierarchy of paradigms, including how they influence theories and models, is the foundation for achievement in local and global education. However, paradigms in education cannot be discussed without first differentiating between a model, a theory, and a paradigm. All too often, educators confuse these three entities which belong to the hierarchy of education. More importantly, understanding the paradigm's hierarchical structure and its relationship to educational theory is essential to model building and broader educational change. For the most part, educators believe erroneously that these teaching components are interchangeable. Yet, theories and models differ from paradigms and are established to support a greater philosophical and archetypal framework, which is referred to as the paradigm. Unfortunately, the research suggests that these terms continue to be misused and inappropriated not only in psychology, but also in education, which concurs with L'Abate's (2009) observations that the terms have indeed been misused in various domains.