Ekonomiskās izglītības reforma -- Laikmeta diktēta prasība.

1. The 21st century is characterised by the transition from industrial society to the post--industrial society. The main difference here lies in the changes regarding attitudes towards an individual. In the industrial society, an individual in the economic dimension was an object, a tool, whereas in the post--industrial society, an individual is positioned as subject, which means that the individual has acquired a determinative role and his/her rights have been acknowledged as primary ones, thus securing maximum circumstances for his/her development and self--expression. 2. Any type of society is characterized by the appropriate system of education. The so-called "traditional" education was typical of the industrial society; the goal of such education was training of students to become accurate implementers and performers of the technological conveyor. The post-industrial society's task is to create a fundamentally new educational paradigm, which is defined in psychology as education oriented towards personality development. 3. Economy nowadays starts a purposeful transition to innovative economic methods. Science and education are of critical importance here. For the educational system to train innovative management, and not to train accurate implementers and performers for the technological conveyor, as it has been as far, pedagogy itself should transfer to innovative teaching methods in order to train experimenters, seekers of the innovative, who would attempt to independently discover ways how to better solve problems. 4. The new educational paradigm cannot be implemented by applying cosmetic improvements in old curricula and old textbooks. At the same time, these transformations may not be done by rapid revolutionary changes that would shake and suddenly ruin the old educational system. A new paradigm should be formed gradually, consistently and sequentially -- within the process of purposeful transformation of the old system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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