Notice that he is talking about teaching/talking/explaining. It is a for-teachers paper, not a for-researchers-working at-the-cutting-edge-of-fundamental-physics paper. And its nothing new. I taught an introductory level course on quantum mechanics recently and I refused to use the words "particle" or "wave" at any point in the course because I think they are confusing. I talked instead in terms of wavefunctions which is just an easier word for fields - at least as far as undergraduates are concerned.
I did condensed matter Physics, where QFT isn't that essential, but from the QFT I did study the "it's all fields" way of looking at it came out quite naturally (well, how natural something as profoundly weird as QM can be, can be discussed..). So I fail to see how this can be considered particularly controversial.
I mean, if you want something controversial and non-mainstream, take the subject of this article, pilot wave theory.
PS: Do you have suggestions on a good introductory QM study materials (textbooks, online stuff,...) that emphasize the fields viewpoint?