Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

introduction to the seriesknower process of knowing knownThis threefold structure of experience is nowhere more evident thanin schools: The knowers are the students, the known is the knowledgeto be learned, and the process of knowing is what the full range ofteaching and learning strategies seek to promote.Understanding this threefold structure helps us understand the paradigmshifts that are taking place.The instruction paradigm places emphasis on the known. It focuseson the information students are to absorb and the skills they are tolearn. In this paradigm, the instructor’s role is to identify what studentsneed to know and deliver it to them.The learning paradigm emphasizes the process of knowing. It recognizesthat students must be actively involved in the learning process,that knowledge is something individuals create and construct for themselves,that students have differing learning styles and differing intereststhat must be taken into account. In this paradigm, the instructor’srole is to create learning environments and experiences that promotethe process of learning.The Consciousness-Based paradigm embraces the known and theprocess of knowing but places primary emphasis on the knower—ondeveloping the knower’s potential for learning from within. The followingdiagram shows the respective emphases of each approach:9