STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote:
>
> Carol,
>
> I’m pretty much with Bill on the meaning of “paradigm shift.” I 
> associate the term with Thomas Kuhn’s seminal book “The Structure of 
> Scientific Revolutions,” which was required reading when I was in 
> graduate school back before the first moon landing.
>
> A term like this tends to get coopted by other disciplines, in this 
> case other than the history and philosophy of science, and I suspect 
> your student was using not to describe a paradigm shift in 
> communication media but rather to justify a broad neglect of the most 
> important technology of information storage, retrieval, and transfer 
> in the history of humanity: the printed page.
>
> I won’t just now go into my association of this neglect with the 
> trivialization of constructivist learning theory by converting it into 
> an all-pervading pedagogical approach. More on that later, if anyone’s 
> interested in a retired guy’s rant.
>
> Herb
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Spruiell, William C
> *Sent:* 2008-09-18 18:50
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: Paradigm Shift?
>
> Carol,
>
> /Paradigm shift /is something I associate with revolutions in 
> scientific theories, but not automatically with shifts in everyday 
> practices, although those might eventually follow. I think there /has/ 
> been something that we could call a paradigm shift in models of 
> “literacy,” in that what were originally models only of reading have 
> been expanded to deal with other “literacies” (I’m using quotes not 
> because I don’t like this approach, but because I’m still a bit 
> conflicted over using a term that refers to letters for things that 
> letters aren’t involved in; i.e., I’m a fogey). Saying that science 
> needs to discuss how people “read” visual images and the like is not 
> the same, though, as saying that we now think they don’t need to read 
> written texts.
>
> Some students (and others) do seem to assume that acknowledging the 
> utility of a wide range of modalities means that we can abandon 
> written text, and I suspect they see discussions of multi-literacies 
> as verifying that assumption and signaling the end of written text as 
> a medium. This view can dove-tail with an overextension of discussions 
> of multiple learning styles (“I’m not a verbal learner, so I shouldn’t 
> have to read anything”). In my classes with education majors, I try to 
> get them thinking about the subject by asking them to come up with a 
> visual symbol for relationships like “although” – just as visual 
> representation is much better at some things than language is, 
> language still lets you handle concepts that can’t be visualized with 
> any degree of generality. And written text is still the best means of 
> making language persistent and rapidly navigable (you can use an audio 
> recording, but….ever try to skim one of those for particular pieces of 
> info?).
>
> Bill Spruiell
>
> Dept. of English
>
> Central Michigan University
>
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Carol Morrison
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 18, 2008 5:17 PM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Paradigm Shift?
>
> Hello Grammarians,
>
> I was a bit astounded today when one of my freshman writers announced 
> in class that there has been a "paradigm shift" from reading books to 
> viewing films and other visual texts as a means of acquiring 
> knowledge. This was immediately after I took an informal poll to ask 
> how many class members read books. (Only 2, including myself, raised 
> their hands). I was impressed with the student's insight, but also 
> wondered if this related to his poor writing skills and the writing 
> skills which seem to be lacking in other students who don't "read." 
> I'm not really trying to discuss the relationship of reading and 
> writing so much on the grammar list, but rather the usage of "paradigm 
> shift." I've always struggled with terms like this and also with terms 
> such as "agency" which are buzz words in academia, but used in so many 
> different contexts that their meaning becomes fuzzy to me after a 
> while. Any thoughts? (About "agency" or "paradigm shift"?)
>
> Thank you!
>
> Carol
>
>
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Herb,

I'm interested; rant on, please.

Terry Tiernan
Department of English & Communication
Potsdam College
Potsdam, New York

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