I think it depends on the individual; but for me personally, it is essential.

Learner autonomy is absolutely essential. There are numerous studies on autonomy-support for learners (Kaur, Rosna and Noman, 2015) and each time it has been proved to be an important factor for improved learning. Learner autonomy support has been studied extensively through Self-determination Theory (SDT) by Deci and Ryan. A good resource on autonomy support is available at selfdeterminationtheory.org.

Refer to this article for in depth literature review on autonomy support:

Kaur, A., Hashim, R., & Noman, M. (2015). Teacher autonomy support intervention as a classroom practice in a Thai school. Journal for Multicultural Education, 10-27.

It is absolutely needed to provide learners with opportunities to take control of their own learning. The problem is that it does not mean that they have to summarise a lot of pages or rewrite text books and study guides. When learners are provided with opportunities to take control of their own learning, they need to be provided with opportunities to put what they learn in practice. Who wants to take control of learning when you have to rewrite the words of others? Certainly not adult learners.

It is very important to inform first year university students that your role as a lecturer will be more of  facilitating learning & less of direct sending-receiving type of teaching. These young students usually like freedom & acquiring autonomy in many spheres of life except –regrettably- in education. They like to be spoon-fed with easy-to-digest educational "capsules" in a similar way to "fast food".

It is our duty, as teachers, to "convince' the students about the value of what they are learning. After that, the students ought to realize that the lecturer does not have an answer for every question. A very nice practice is to answer a question by requesting all to "Google it & let us discuss it next time". Step-by-step, we as leaders of the educational process, will guide our students to climb the ladder & to shoulder responsibility by themselves. Self-directed learning, in my view, is one of the best outcomes of successful education.

Learner autonomy increases the capacity and confidence of an active learner, but for the persons who think learning means reading of books, this method might not give good results. After completion of education and in real practice of work, learning autonomy proves an intelligent tool for making knowledge prosper.

My personal experience: it depends.

If a university has well done course on some classical subject (for example, calculus), then a good professor can present the topic in such a way that copying  blackboard (where he writes) plus reading and understanding details of proofs at home is sufficient for passing exam well. In this case, those professors who write poorly or give some elements for reading at home (often from difficult textbooks) can generate worse performance of students.

If there are no good professors of the type described above, a smart student can substitute lectures for reading books at home, and if those books are well written, he can perform better then those attending lectures.

But there is also a new type of knowledge that changes every year, like software for computer users or new laws for lawyers. Here the ability to work alone and to select material optimally from huge stream is important. Still, lecturers that can teach new software better than manuals are written can be appreciated by students. But it is more difficult for professor to perform well here than in classical subject where he can polish his course for many years without changes.

By this answer I am setting a pointer to this question and will come back within a day.

The question asks “How important is learner autonomy?”. It is very important because such autonomy may reduce learning efficiency. I feel if learner autonomy means unsupervised learning then it is never beneficial. This is so because there is every chance that the student may choose some material to learn for which (s)he may not have the required prerequisite. If this happens then their may occur an irreparable misconception generated which may not be unlearned easily. Therefore I think such autonomy better be avoided.

Karl Steffens of the University of Cologne has done extensive work on this question, with a particular emphasis on technology-enhanced and self-directed learning. The link below is to an online edited book that reviews a number of important European studies in this area. I recommend it. 

https://www.sensepublishers.com/media/933-self-regulated-learning-in-technology-enhanced-learning-environments.pdf

Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge and skill in a deductive way where there is a teacher who is trained and expert on the subject he/she is teaching and where there is students who are disciplined enough to receive what the teacher has to offer and gain knowledge. If a student has an autonomy to determine what and as to what extent he/she needs to learn, then that is not learning but purchasing a commodity according to  what the customer needs. Teaching and learning is not and should not be customer/attendant relationship which some times such things are prevalent which lead to abuse of the noble profession that shapes society.     

 La autonomía en el estudiante es importante, porque le da la oportunidad como individuo de desarrollar actitudes positivas e ir estructurando su personalidad, en la cual a través del aprendizaje, sera individuo independiente, con alta autoestima, capaz de expresar opiniones, analizar, reflexionar, gestionar y desarrollar un pensamiento critico.

In case of any ailment one does decide upon the required category of doctors depending on her/his illness. However autonomy may be dangerous if (s)he starts deciding the treatment and the required medication.

Depending on interest I may opt for a course on Medicine or Mathematics but after that I have to go by the teacher’s instruction.

That is autonomy should also be supervised

Autonomy is better to learned people as people in the stage of development of their knowledge seek guidance and evaluation.

Autonomy is better to learned people and foe the undergraduate students it is hopeless.

Dear David,

Can you define what you mean by "learner autonomy" as it is clear from the posts that people interpret it meaning in different ways. 

This post specially concerns those who think that 'learned' & the learners are basically  different people. If so, How should one deal with students who are at an intermediate level? is not partial self learning (with guidance wherever needed) the answer to this? Rather than making norms about the students ability at a particular level, the teacher's maturity & judgement should be left to do the needful.

A learner autonomy can never be a full one (as long as the person is a student) because this will simply negate the role of the teacher. In a stepwise manner, the student is guided, helped, and trained to depend more upon himself/herself in learning. The teacher is not supposed to explain all the bits & pieces; we have to let them start "bearing light loads" or start "fishing" but we will be present to follow up their progress. 

In response to Daniel Campbell's request that I define what I mean by "learner autonomy":

In line with the work of Henri Holec, David Little and Phil Benson I define learner autonomy as taking control / taking charge / taking responsibility for one's own learning. To me this does not specifically mean self-learning, learning alone or learning without teachers. But it means learners being aware of their own learning needs, styles and preferences; and reflecting on what they are doing, how it is going, how it could be better and how they could be better. As mentioned above by other colleagues, teachers can help students to take responsibility for their learning by guiding and scaffolding them and gradually being more hands-off. Teachers who help students develop their capacity for autonomous learning are giving them a wonderful gift because it is these students who will go on to be the big thinkers and innovators (as well as being more satisfied learners).    

Thanks to Daniel for showing me the need to make my definition clear.

Dear David,

Thank you very much for your clear definition. I quote "To me this does not specifically mean self-learning, learning alone or learning without teachers. But it means learners being aware of their own learning needs, styles and preferences; and reflecting on what they are doing, how it is going, how it could be better and how they could be better"

I feel this autonomy is definitely necessary for matured university students. Even at high school we can allow such .practice to a limited class of students, But this should always be avoided  in primary level.

Hi David, 

I utilised Transactional Distance Theory in some recent research. One of the three elements that can be manipulated in any teaching interaction is learner autonomy. The following article may be of interest to you.

Regards, Kevin

Larkin, K. & Jamieson-Proctor, R. (2015). Using Transactional Distance Theory to redesign an Online Mathematics Education Course for Pre-Service Primary Teachers. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development (MTED). Online First

http://www.merga.net.au/ojs/index.php/mted/article/view/193

How is important is autonomous learning ... 100%  If students are autonomous learners they have emotional intelligence, self regulation, commitment etc... which are critical life and working skills.

In 2006 I was teaching low ability (level 2) students independent learning skills to promote the concept of autonomous learning who where at high school (>level 4). Then about five years ago primary and secondary schools (in the UK) whet through a period of implementing an enquiry based learning curriculum in a bid to address the Ofsted (UK school regulators) requirements of independent learning.  The realisation that other strategies (learning-to-learn etc...) had not work effectively was misinterpreted.  In reality, the focus within the school communities had moved to the next government directive.  

The concept of enquiry based learning is about asking a big question (why is the world running out of oil) and then asking the students to create four or five small questions which if they can answer they will not the answer to the big question. Thus promoting independent learning or autonomous learners.  The principle concern I have with autonomous learning is related to assessment of against a predefined matrix, which are a 100% given within state school but a lot more flexible at university. 

I have attached a summery of a presentation which I made to a steering committee for more in-depth detail about risks and assumptions associated with state education.

Research Enquiry Based Learning: A Proposed Framework 2011

Daniell Campbell has written well on the topic. However 'Learning autonomy' is different from 'Autonomous Learning'. Autonomous learning is effective for students, however to question how much autonomy be provided to students - is learning autonomy.

Dear Prabhat Ranjan,

Where I do not disagree with your logic, I was responding to the definition presented by the host (David Gardner)... "To me this does not specifically mean self-learning, learning alone or learning without teachers."

Thanks to Daniel Campbell for the summary about enquiry based learning.

To pick up the point of some other contributors about how much autonomy and at which educational level to provide it, I want to say that I think different learners are ready at different times. I have seen some really autonomous learning among primary school students and also resistance to taking control among university students. For me, one important role of all teachers is to foster learners' capacity to take responsibility for their learning (i.e. to become autonomous learners). I hasten to add this is only one of the roles of teachers but the other roles are covered by our traditional understanding of what good teachers do.

Hi David

Learner autonomy is an important aspect in higher education. Lecturers are supposed to be facilitating your learning as much as possible. For example, the shift  in today's  global education paves the way for e' learning where a student takes full responsibility of his learning. They read about Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, cloud computing  etc and use those ICT mechanisms in place to help them accelerate their skills and knowledge. They then go to their lecturers who facilitate their learning to seek further clarification on what they have found out.

David, if you do not ask questions or answer questions pause by your lecturers, then you are not giving your facilitators room to allow you to have the autonomy to learn. They will have to force you to learn what they want you to learn and not what you want to learn.

Regards!

Dora,

Thanks for your input. I agree entirely that Q&A are important aspects of creating an environment which fosters autonomous learning. I also agree that e-learning can help but I think we should not assume that all e-learning promotes autonomy. I have seen some poor examples where e-learning emulates chalk and talk teaching, i.e. learning materials that fix a single pathway and provide little opportunity for reflection. Hopefully such materials are exceptions and will become extinct.

regards

David

The suggestion by Daniel of not answering the main question & getting the students to frame a few related question & answers leading to answer of the main question is interesting(& worth a try). So is David's appropriately coined expression "chalk & talk teaching". Decrying the use of learning materials that fix a single pathway for learning will work only if the Academic system & Formal exam. system provide sufficient opportunities and compel the students to practice self-learning promoting reflection at  all levels as appropriate.

regards

Salil Bhatt

The suggestion by Daniel of not answering the main question & getting the students to frame a few related question & answers leading to answer of the main question is interesting(& worth a try). So is David's appropriately coined expression "chalk & talk teaching". Decrying the use of learning materials that fix a single pathway for learning will work only if the Academic system & Formal exam. system provide sufficient opportunities and compel the students to practice self-learning promoting reflection at  all levels as appropriate.

regards

Salil Bhatt

The suggestion by Daniel of not answering the main question & getting the students to frame a few related question & answers leading to answer of the main question is interesting(& worth a try). So is David's appropriately coined expression "chalk & talk teaching". Decrying the use of learning materials that fix a single pathway for learning will work only if the Academic system & Formal exam. system provide sufficient opportunities and compel the students to practice self-learning promoting reflection at  all levels as appropriate.

regards

Salil Bhatt

As education in the sense of the German word Bildung can only be an offer to a potential learner, but never a result, in the learner, a real learning process is always an autonomous process. Thinking this way leads to the insight, that learn to take control of/responsibility for their own learning will lead to a better educational experience of the learners.

Ryan and Deci believe autonomy is very important. Check out their self-determination theory if you are not familiar with it. I believe it is very important, but that it is more complex than simply having autonomy. "Agency," as I prefer, is an outcome of development, but one that can't emerge without some opportunities along the way. On the other hand, students need guidance as well. Valsiner (1997) argued that we can only do two things in education: restrict and promote. We can set boundaries of what is acceptable action, which we do when we assign a paper and give clear instructions, and we can promote particular actions through examples and modeling ways of thinking. Autonomy is crucial for motivation, but students need to be told that they have it and given enough structure that they are confident that what they are doing fits what we are asking them to do. Ryan and Deci has influenced me for a long time, but I discovered that many of my students have never been given much autonomy and are therefore confused, feeling that the work must not be important if I'm not telling them exactly what to do or more simply feeling lost. So I generally explain to them why I'm giving them certain assignments, explaining the choices they have and what my goals are. At a practical level, I'm getting better results. At a theoretical level, the complexity of education is revealed as autonomy/agency, an emotional connection and feeling of support and trust, and cognitive challenges create a context in which students can grow.

dear david,

my papers on self regulation and autonomy might help,

would appreciate your feedback.

I think through measuring the extent to which our learners are autonomous we can measure the efficiency and the quality of our teaching. It is like a barometer for us as teachers. In other words, if we have prepared our learners enough to take charge of their learning and can firmly stand on their own outside the class, this means that they have achieved a high degree of autonomy, hence it is the success of our job. Yet, if it is not the case, it implies that it is us who haven't done our job well and it is us to blame.