If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
—Wayne Dyer
Definition
The most significant learning occurs when individuals are able to shift the perspective by which they habitually view the world, leading to greater understanding both of the world and of others.
Nick: Is this related to the concept of paradigm that Kuhn described?
Yes, Kuhn1 defines paradigm as that which “stands for the entire constellation of beliefs, values and techniques, shared by the members of a community.” Paradigms shape how we perceive the world and are reinforced by those around us. They condition our interpretations of reality and our worldview. Kuhn’s theory represented an important conceptual shift from the positivist scientific model, where a reality was assumed to exist “out there,” and which we could get to know through our senses. The positivist view of the world is anchored on a true–false, right–wrong polarity, and science is the only valid way to get at the truth, to understand the world, and to make valid predictions explaining causal relations between variables. Science from a positivist framework is mechanistic.
In contrast, the new approach was called “constructivist,” suggesting that we construct reality as we see it through a number of mostly unconscious filters, such as language, age, gender, personal history, education, personal preferences, and development stage. All of these shape our mental maps. There is not one truth, but many, and they can all be integrated, as when we look at an object from different angles.
Julia: Why does this matter for learning?
For example, let’s imagine we see the world in terms of an objective reality out there, and we get to know it through our senses (also “common sense”). We see the world in terms of “right” or “wrong.” In that sense, authority—based on expertise, age, or mastery—defines who has it right. This is characteristic of the domination model we discussed before. As we evolve our thinking, this model is slowly becoming outdated. We can observe it in any debate: There are many ways to interpret data.
Nick: This reminds me of the stages of human development, as elaborated by scholars such as Robert Kegan,2 Bill Torbert,3 Ken Wilber,4 who see more integrated ways of relating to the world—from “it’s all about me and I’m right” (or wrong) to more inclusive and integrative perspectives.
Absolutely, so it is an opportunity for us as educators to challenge our students’ certainties, and perhaps trigger new ways of thinking and acting in the world.
Julia: Is this principle based on the assumption that currently we are not developing “responsible managers,” and that to get there, we need to shift our or their values?
That is a bit too strong; but we can say that not enough business schools around the world are aware of their responsibility—and their opportunity—to develop young leaders who can actively shape a better world.
Of course, no one is intentionally developing irresponsible leaders, but when we take a look into the contents and methods that represent the essence of advanced education, we find entrenched traditional top-down lecturing that serves to further the domination model. In the way programs are organized into subjects, we also find “siloed” contents that foster a fragmented vision of reality and obscure the interconnections; rather short-term thinking; consideration of nature as a resource rather than humans being a part of nature; and rare inclusion of all stakeholders into the picture—including the next seven generations. This may sound strange, but it is old wisdom from the Iroquois Nation’s Law of Peace that in every decision, be it personal, governmental, or corporate, we must consider how it will affect our descendants seven generations into the future.
Nick: Your list suggests curriculum content, and we were discussing “paradigm shift” as a principle. I am confused … .
Method and outcome, at times it is difficult to distinguish between them, just as when we talk about sustainability or responsibility: Are they means or ends? They are both. In this case, I was illustrating with some examples how we may—unintentionally—be developing managers who are not properly prepared for the task awaiting them. The core of this principle is to find ways to uncover and identify the mental models and maps we carry in our mind, so that we can become aware of them, and eventually choose to keep or modify them.
Alford Korzybski,5 the father of general semantics—the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning—indicated in 1933 that “the map is not the territory,” pointing to the fact that our perception of reality is not reality itself but our own version of it, or our “map.” Unless we take notice of this, it is difficult to think of real transformative learning. How can we transform our behaviors if we are unaware of the mental models and maps that shape or condition our decisions and habits?
Nick: Is this more a philosophical concept than a learning theory?
A number of educators (Cranton,6 Mezirow,7 Brookfield8) and also management scholars such as Argyris,9 Schön,10 and Senge11 observe that learning needs to incorporate critical thinking and to promote self-reflection, and instructors should have the aim of uncovering one’s mental models and assumptions, which are mostly unconscious, so that they can be examined. Some educators came to this understanding by the ways of social action theory (such as Freire12 and Horton et al.13) or feminism (Belenky et al.14 Gilligan15), all highlighting the importance of unconscious mental models in shaping our actions. They see the main purpose of learning is to become critical thinkers, and the educators’ role is to help uncover and surface these mental models and assumptions. Our decisions and actions are based on our interpretation of the world, and if that interpretation changes, so will our actions. There is an agreement among educators that the ultimate goal of education is to lead to more informed, conscious actions.
Andres: How could we implement this principle in a course?
There are many activities that can be used to implement this principle. A powerful one is to ask students to list their assumptions about a particular issue.
A Story
On one occasion, I asked the group to write down their assumptions around work–life balance. When they reported what they had written, they noticed that they all thought that work was the more important of the two, because income depended on it, but personal time, while important, was not possible or realistic. Because the group agreed in this perspective, they indicated that it was not simply an assumption, but a reality. Does the mere fact that a group shares the same assumption make it a reality? Considering something “a reality” gives us the feeling that it is something we have to accept and that we cannot change. On the other hand, looking at it as an assumption is empowering, because it implies that we have some control of our life, and opens up the possibility that we can choose an option and modify it to our benefit.
Another way to bring the principle of Paradigm Shift to life is to place the students in unfamiliar situations. This can be done by having them engage with people outside of their normal circle. For instance, you can suggest that they interview a homeless person; someone belonging to another race, or ethnic group; a religious fundamentalist; or someone belonging to a different age group, profession, or nationality. This exercise triggers them to see the world through other eyes, and trains them in recognizing other people’s mental maps. This invariably has an impact on their personal assumptions, since they realize that what they take for granted is actually just another interpretation of the world.
Vivien: How does this lead to responsible management?
Until we learn that we act out of our mental maps, we all are fundamentalists, thinking there is one way—the right way. Responsible management however requires that we integrate multiple perspectives, that we listen to different stakeholders as we analyze a problem or make a decision. As the American adult educator Jack Mezirow16 indicates, it is easier to see how others are different from us than to become aware of our own assumptions and how we understand our society. As educators, we have an opportunity to use certain activities as a mirror held up in front of our students (and ourselves, of course!).
Andres: Can you give us an example of how to incorporate such an “unfamiliar” environment in the design of a course?
The activities can happen inside or outside the classroom. Students can be grouped into project teams with lots of differences—gender, age, religion, culture, language preference, areas of interest. They quickly discover their own paradigms and begin to see other points of view. Outside the class-room, a trip, a visit to a neighborhood that is not part of the students’ life are some other options.
Two Stories
Soraia Schuttel is a professor at Unisinos, a large university in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she teaches a management class. She took her students to a residence for youths from poor, disadvantaged families, some of them orphans, or with parents in jail, and tasked her students with designing a financial education class for the children.
Amelia Naim, teaching at IPMI, a business school in Jakarta, Indonesia, encouraged her students to work with families in a very low-income district. This was, for the students, the first time they had interacted with poverty. First they participated in sweeping the dirt floor of the house; they then all sat on that floor where they had illuminating conversations about the challenges faced by the families. One result of the talk was that the students made and helped execute a plan that helped the families create a vegetable garden to provide for their own food. After that experience, several of the students reflected on how this activity had influenced their thoughts on their own future work. For example, some, who were planning to work in their large family business after graduation, stated their determination to influence their family company into considering low-income populations when making their business plans.
Julia: This principle, in summary, emphasizes that learning, in essence, is the process of surfacing and critically scrutinizing the mental models that we have created to make sense of how we view, and act in, the world. An important, and at times profound, possible outcome of learning can be development of a different mental model or perspective from which to view the world.
Nick: This is actually indicated by learning scholars to be the core purpose of teaching and learning: that students become more aware, and act in more informed ways.
Vivien: Yes, but not “any” informed ways. As we develop leaders, we must attempt to ensure that students become more responsible leaders who are intent on shaping a better world.
Andres: We can embed into our course projects that take students out of the classroom, into the “real world,” to unfamiliar contexts, because that will present the best opportunities for seeing the world through other eyes, and for identifying their own mental maps. But even without going out of the classroom we can ask challenging questions, ask to notice our assumptions or practice to speak from within some stranger’s perspective.