Despite intense efforts, contemporary educational systems are not enabling
individuals to function optimally in modern society. The main reason is that
reformers are trying to improve systems that are not designed to take advantage
of the centuries of history of the development of today's societies. Nor do
they recognize the implications of the millions of years of history of life on
earth in which humans are the latest edition of learning organisms. The
contemporary educational paradigm of "education for all" is based on a 17th
century model of "printing minds" for passing on static knowledge. This
characterizes most of K-12 education. In contrast, 21st Century education
demands a new paradigm, which we call Ergonomic Education. This is an education
system that is designed to fit the students of any age instead of forcing the
students to fit the education system. It takes into account in a fundamental
way what students want to learn -- the concept "wanting to learn" refers to the
innate ability and desire to learn that is characteristic of humans. The
Ergonomic Education paradigm shifts to education based on coaching students as
human beings who are hungry for productive learning throughout their lives from
their very earliest days.Comment: plain latex, 13 pages, 1 tabl