A shift from traditional teacher-centered to more active student-centered approach would require the consensus and collective effort from a number of stakeholders. More often than not, this transition would take a very long time. How can we then stay in between and reap the maximum benefits of student centered approach?
I think that looking for a model that is between student-centered and teacher-centered is a worthy pursuit. Reflecting on my 42+ years of university teaching, if I am not engaged and am not learning while I teach my students, my course is not as effective as it could be. We must not neglect the benefits that teachers receive from their teaching. Unfortunately, there is little research on this important topic.
I think this is the very approach that should be borne from Dewey's (1938) educational philosophy, that which he was talking about all those years ago when he suggested 'progressivism'. He was unfortunately misinterpreted by many as being entirely learner-centred. But he is quite clear in his writing that he is suggesting an equilibrium between such tensions as the one you describe. Equally between other tensions too, such as knowledge and skills. Dewey was of course writing against a backdrop of growing nationalism and the advent of fascist dictatorships in Europe so it is no wonder perhaps that he was misinterpreted, because the balance at that time would indeed have entailed fighting for student experiences and learner-centred pedagogies.
Dear all,
Thank you so much for all your inputs. As Dr. Simon rightly mentioned, it is important to position ourselves (teachers) somewhere in between so that students can be benefited. Experiential learning theorists (Dewey, Kolb, Vygotsky, etc.) strongly believed that social & cultural environments are integral components of learning. A progress from teacher-centered to a learner-centered approach actually adds these flavors of social & cultural aspects to learning.
However, we don't have many educational institutions that follow a learner-centered approach around us. Being in a teacher-centered environment, I believe individual teachers can still create an environment that is closer to a learner-centered one through innovative metacognitive strategies.
Yes we can have this pedagogical approach but mentalities have to change in order that this advance is accepted & is well-utilized.
In my humble opinion, the role of the teacher as "sage on the stage" has to shift into the role of the "guide on the side". After all, the students have to shoulder the responsibility of active learning for their own benefit & to avoid the spoiling spoon-fed type of education.
You & me, as teachers, have seen many cases (during the long teaching career) in which students can enrich our knowledge.
A teacher, who confines himself/herself into teaching alone and reiterates "you just listen" to the students, will really be a loser or may be an overconfident!
With the rapid diffusion and availability of huge amounts of knowledge, the exclusively teacher centered approach is no more practicable with any degree of success. Todays education is a balanced mixture of teachers and teaching, learning and learners, plus the techniques and resources to optimize the whole process. We are all constantly more and more learners.
Hi!
Teaching and learning are interdependent, but both sometimes occur without the other one. And be critical - some of what is called ”learner-centered” may in reality be constructed for some non-existing ideal student. Another source of confusion is that teaching is often called learning nowadays, as in distance-, e- online- blended- hybrid- etc etc ...learning, which is really about teaching organisation and arrangements, not about student-centered or student-chosen learning strategies at all. Oliver and Trigwell wrote 2006 that the word learning ought to be handed back to the rightful owners, the students (attached paper). See also my attached papers.
A father of instructional design, Robert S Mager, once reputedly said (1968?) that ”If telling were teaching, we’d all be so smart that we could hardly stand it.” Teaching that does not result at least in some learning is hardly worth to be called teaching.
But why not go the Vygotsky way and talk about ”obuchenie”, the combination of teaching and learning when it all works between a teacher, a learner and peers? For discussion of the term obuchenie, see https://goo.gl/tnhv5f
At last - see my collection of the Internets ”learning alphabet”, a-learning, b-learni g, c-learning etc etc - teaching disguised as learning mostly, which is a little odd when we still do not really know how ilearning works...
Article Can 'Blended Learning' Be Redeemed?
Data The learning alphabet - claims about what?
Yes, read about 'Interactive Whole Class Teaching'. You can find more about it in the following source:
Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about teaching methods. ACER Press.
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