Annotated Bibliography of Resources for Educational Reform, Coherent Teaching Practice, and Improved Student Learning

You are viewing a resource record entry from SEDL's Annotated Bibliography Database.

• Reilly, D. H. (1989). A knowledge base for education. Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (3), 9-13.

This paper suggests that there is only one knowledge base for educationÑhow children learn and how this learning can be enhanced. Reilly believes this requires a paradigm shift for most educators who tend to view children as passive receptors of information presented by the teacher rather than as the prime actors in the teaching-learning process. The need for this paradigm shift is attributed to the cognitive revolution in psychology in the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to this time, most of American pedagogy was dominated by the behaviorist model, and classroom instruction still emphasized this model at the time this article was written. Reilly says that schools should be organized around the increased understanding of how children learn and must be reorganized to assist children to learn more effectively. He states that "this will require a shift from a primary focus on teaching to a primary focus on the learning process and the learner." 

Return to: Annotated Bibliography Search Page