Moving Beyond Teaching and Learning into a Human Development Paradigm

For decades higher education has been dominated by two models: the Teaching Centered Model (TCM) and, more recently, the Learning Centered Model (LCM). Neither model alone is deemed as sufficient to satisfactorily address the educational needs and challenges of learners in our modern, global society. This paper describes a conceptual framework that can help guide the creation and implementation of teaching/learning approaches that are based on the universal phenomenon of human development a phenomenon that transcends both the TCM and LCM. This conceptual framework called the Development Centered Paradigm (DCP) seeks to capitalize on the benefits of the TCM and LCM while going beyond them. This paper also describes a demonstration project in an interdisciplinary biotechnology management course at a graduate school of management in France; this demonstration project shows how the DCP can be implemented in higher education, building on the positive features of the TCM and LCM.