WHAT IS THE HUMANIST PARADIGM IN EDUCATION? - ECONOMÍA - 2025

The humanist paradigm in education is the implementation of humanistic qualities in the educational environment, giving great importance to the personal and emotional values ​​that make up a person, and applying them in their own training.

The humanist paradigm arises historically from currents such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, which marked a new perception of the world.

The humanist paradigm is characterized by recognizing the individual as a singular entity, capable of thinking according to their own experiences, having different perceptions of their surroundings and issuing their own opinions. For no reason is he considered part of a uniform and single-minded mass.

Humanism arises in human society after the Middle Ages, where religious and supernatural analyzes begin to be relegated to give way to man's capacity for free thought.

Historically and even today, behind the application of the humanist paradigm is a great referential support of authors and works that address it from a literary, educational and psychological perspective.

Humanism as the origin of the humanist paradigm

Humanism is considered an image of the world; a way of seeing and perceiving it. With the decline of scholastic philosophy, religious and superstitious beliefs, the philosophers of the late Middle Ages began to take into account the capacity of man as a thinking, true and singular being.

From the time of the Renaissance, humanism would begin to be applied in a pedagogical way, through the teaching of ideas and doctrines considered humanist, which are nourished by currents of thought such as realism, liberalism and integrity.

These philosophical currents will manifest the main outstanding qualities that must be considered with respect to man in his education.

Liberalism would contribute the notion of human value as the main fruit to be obtained from education, its most significant part.

The realism would take into account the personal experience of the subject, as well as the daily environment in which it operates as an influential in its formation.

Integrity would expand the limits of your being as a recipient of knowledge, appealing to your human sensitivity.

Humanism would continue to evolve, and with it education, until the 20th century, where a great psychological influence would reveal new educational methods and models that would take into account human qualities, but also their capacity for automation. (behavior).

The humanist paradigm then addresses physical, psychological, emotional, social and ethical aspects of man, giving all these aspects a crucial importance in the educational and integral development of man.

Humanist paradigm applied to education

For a long time, even today, the educational system in the practice of knowledge transmission has been considered straightforward and very rigid in character, limiting its ability to exploit the true potential of all those who receive education.

One of its flaws is that it is a teacher-centered practice, while the humanist paradigm seeks to transfer priority attention to students.

In the humanist paradigm of education, students are individual entities, with their own initiatives and ideas, with potentiality and need to grow, tied to personal experiences, etc.

The teacher who imparts an education under the humanist paradigm must adopt a position of certain human flexibility, and take into account certain criteria such as the following:

• Interest in the student as a whole and complete person;
• Be receptive to new ways and models of teaching;
• Promote the cooperative spirit;
• Be genuinely interested in people, not as authoritarian and superior.
• Reject authoritarian positions applied to the educational system, as well as foster empathy with its students.
• Relate to them and be understanding of their individual abilities.

The humanist paradigm then seeks that learning becomes meaningful for the student himself, and that he comes to consider it that way, and not as an obligation.

Only at this time, according to the humanist Carl Rogers, will the student himself promote his own learning with great efficiency and interest.

Humanistic methods of learning

Humanist authors and researchers over time have developed various learning methods that fall within the educational humanist paradigm.

Learning by discovery

Promoted by Jerome Bruner, discovery learning aims to encourage active student participation in the process of obtaining knowledge.

Learning must challenge the intelligence of the student so that he can creatively investigate the ways to solve or overcome doubts, thus committing himself to the search for answers.

Ausubel method

Ausubel promoted within the humanist paradigm the constant updating and review of an individual's previous knowledge. These are necessary and crucial to carry out learning that can be considered truly meaningful.

The exploration of previous knowledge and its comparison with the new ones is closely tied to the personal experience of each individual.

The educator must, then, find the most balanced technique so that, even the absence of prior knowledge, does not present a burden on the student's current learning.

References

1. Cruces, MG (2008). The Person as the Fundamental Axis of the Humanist Paradigm. University Act, 33-40.
2. Fabela, JL (nd). What is the humanist paradigm in education? Guanajuato: University of Guanajuato.
3. Hoyos-Vásquez, G. (2009). Education for a new humanism. magis, International Journal of Research in Education, 425-433.
4. Luzuriaga, L. (1997). History of education and pedagogy. Buenos Aires: Losada.
5. Vasquez, GH (2012). Philosophy of education. Madrid: Trotta.