The traditional teacher dominant paradigm argues primarily that the relationship between teachers and students requires an investiture of authority. The locus of control naturally rests with the adult in the room; the combination of knowledge and expertise not only gives students overall understanding from someone "in the know," but also assists them in providing guidance and direction. Masters have always had disciples, goes the argument, whose role is to receive and implement learning from those who have the knowledge.
While recognizing the need for classroom authority, some advocates of the Teacher Dominant paradigm warn of the possible "branching" of teachers into three pedagogical types: Authoritative, Tolerant/Authoritative and Tolerant. The disadvantage of such behavioral shifting is that the educational experience is not equal for all students going from Dominant Teacher A to Tolerant Teacher B; a second, more telling point is that an educator, once comfortable in his role, tends not to adapt or modify his classroom approach. To continue to teach without development is to decline.
The main resistance to Learner Dominant teaching, according to advocates, is the shifting of the locus of control. This innovative method argues that educational truth and knowledge reside in everyone, not just authority figures, and that teachers can become comfortable in their new roles as learners, if they allow for the paradigm shift. Learner dominance allows either teachers or students to interpret concepts, gather ideas from others and clarify meanings. It promotes the humanistic philosophy that every student has a point of view and access to knowledge common to all humans.
It surprises few, in the light of U.S. schools' poor academic showing worldwide, that the Learner Dominant mode of teaching is gaining traction. One could argue that its methodology of self-discovery is true teaching in the Socratic mode, a method that allows students to become both learners and teachers. When all else fails, perhaps the ancient paradigm of learner dominance will be the way educators prefer.