Thursday, June 11, 2009

Paradigm


Normally, changes are constantly happening in our lives and our world. Some, such as environmental changes, take place in and by nature, some by scientific and political revolutions, and others by inventions. Paradigms are those of all major mental models or concepts that produce major portions of our reality. They do not come easy nor do they come frequent.
However, upon conventional or personal acceptance, paradigms can and will change perceptions, beliefs, understandings, and even a whole way of life. Since the beginning of time to our modern days, the world has experienced many paradigms that had lasted very long and some are probably here to stay. They are more real, more applicable, and have greater psychological effects than frames. For instance, who you know yourself to be can be the premise of a paradigm. According to the article, a paradigm can represent a well-articulated shared view of events or phenomena and has an internal logic and a set assumption that imposes itself on what is perceived. Giving the sense of reality and validity paradigms represent, one may think that they will never change. In actuality, the do fade and loose essence with time, evolution, and / or phenomena. They are not easily replaced. But when they are, the new ones should never be predicated on the same premises as the old ones. The change can occur as gradual and complicated as the evolution of man of as fast and simple as Eve convincing Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. The events that took place in the history of science and the process of conversion are two good examples we look at to understand a paradigm shift. Afterward, the concept of who you are, your beliefs, your perceptions, and your way of life can completely be different. I grew up in three different countries: the Bahamas, Haiti, and the United Sated of America. I have been in the United States for most of my adulthood; therefore, I have had more enough opportunities to experience many successes and failures. So, I did. However, life itself, my aspirations, my beliefs, and who I am have never changed in neither country. I was taught to respect and accept everyone as they come and treat all equally. In the past few years, I have learned that people are not always what they seem to be. Consequently, my perception of people has drastically changed. I used to think people would and could never intentionally hurt each other. After having gone through my trials with people and hearing others’ stories, I literally was forced to adopt or develop defense mechanisms to make me feel comfortable in dealing people without any deviation of showing respect and giving equal treatment to all people. Frankly, I do not think there was something wrong with what my parents taught me, but I felt that it was time for a new set of major mental models and concepts. I plan on instilling those set of mechanisms in my children until they feel they should change them. As a teacher, a paradigm can be a form of transformation that helps in knowing how to best inform or instruct students. It also can serve as the awareness and understanding of the diversity of a classroom setting.

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