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Some Notes on
“Student-Centred”Teaching and Learning
James Atherton
23 November 2010
Some Notes on
“Student-Centred”Teaching and Learning
James Atherton
23 November 2010Just some notes/remarks; not a comprehensive
account
Some Notes on
“Student-Centred”Teaching and Learning
James Atherton
23 November 2010
In quotation marksbecause it is so
over-used as to beeffectively meaningless
Increasing...(student)
• Activity
• Choice
• Power
I'm not offering a definition. If youneed one, this presentation is notfor you.
But in practice, it means getting studentsto do things first, and working with that,rather than telling them stuff, or whatto do, from the outset
Pages like this werenot in the original
presentation What's the alternative?
“Direct Instruction”Broadly, the teacher demonstrates or presents, and then the students
practise in the approved way, using exercises etc.
Much disparaged and misrepresented, it is nonetheless the strategy of choice for many topics.
Hattie (2009:205) gives it an effect-size of 0.59; wayabove the mean of 0.4.
Many forms of “student-centred”learning score less than themean.
But read Hattie's commentary (2009: 204-207)
Hattie J (2009) Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement London; Routledge
R e v e r s e
Effect-size d=0.59
Continuum
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
In practical terms there is a continuum, and whereabouts youchoose to go on it depends on the
topic and how you want thestudents to learn.
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Here are some sample teachingactivities and where they sit
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Traditional cl
ass (In
tro, ta
sk, “plenary”
)
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Traditional cl
ass (In
tro, ta
sk, “plenary”
)
Student p
resentation
On a topic and terms set
by the teacher...
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Traditional cl
ass (In
tro, ta
sk, “plenary”
)
Student p
resentation
Student-l
ed seminar
Topic at least negotiated by
student(s)
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Traditional cl
ass (In
tro, ta
sk, “plenary”
)
Student p
resentation
Student-l
ed seminar
Self-d
irecte
d groupwork/
independent stu
dy
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Traditional cl
ass (In
tro, ta
sk, “plenary”
)
Student p
resentation
Student-l
ed seminar
Self-d
irecte
d groupwork/
independent stu
dy
Students
design
and manage
class
Note that the teacheris not actually
essential. We do mostof our learning without
needs of that role.
Teacher-centred
Student-centred
Lectu
re with
out
interaction
Lectu
re with
interaction
Traditional cl
ass (In
tro, ta
sk, “plenary”
)
Student p
resentation
Student-l
ed seminar
Self-d
irecte
d groupwork/
independent stu
dy
Students
design
and manage
class
Individual or group-basedprojects
Variations on the theme
Role of teacher...
• “Sage on the stage”
• “Guide at the side”
Of all the simplistic rubbish thatappears in the educational
“literature” these typifications mustbe the most egregious examples
Role of teacher...
• “Sage on the stage”
• “Guide at the side”
Any half-way good teacher does bothas appropriate. To adopt a strategybased on a preference for a role isto put the cart before the horse
Of all the simplistic rubbish thatappears in the educational
“literature” these typifications mustbe the most egregious examples
22 November 2010
Hargreaves’ teachers
• Lion-tamers
• Entertainers
• New Romantics
22 November 2010
Hargreaves’ teachers
• Lion-tamers
• Entertainers
• New Romantics
Students don't want to learn, but...
22 November 2010
Hargreaves’ teachers
• Lion-tamers
• Entertainers
• New Romantics
Students don't want to learn, but...
They will if you crack the whipThey will if you make it fun enough
22 November 2010
Hargreaves’ teachers
• Lion-tamers
• Entertainers
• New Romantics
Students don't want to learn, but...
They will if you crack the whipThey will if you make it fun enough
Students do want to learn, and they will if you let them
22 November 2010
Hargreaves’ teachers
• Lion-tamers
• Entertainers
• New Romantics
Students don't want to learn, but...
Students do want to learn, and they will if you let them
Student-centred learningcan work for teachers like
these
22 November 2010
Hargreaves’ teachers
• Lion-tamers
• Entertainers
• New Romantics
Based on Hargreaves D (1975) Interpersonal Relations and
Education London; Routledge (p. 164ff.)
22 November 2010
A model
Dominance:role/nature not
negotiable:other components
adapt
Distance between elements and width of connecting lines show strength
of identification between elements
Teacher
Learner
Subject
For a proper account of this modelwith provenance etc. go to:
http://www.doceo.co.uk/tools/subtle_1.htm
22 November 2010
Traditionalmodel
Facilitator: more“student-centred” approach
DominanceTeacher
Learner
Subject
Teacher
Learner
Subject
22 November 2010
“Governess”/ Guru
Mentoring
Dominance
Teacher
Learner
Subject
Teacher
Learner
Subject
Influential contributors
“The theoretical standing of student-centred learning is often surprisingly absent in the literature.” (O'Neill and McMahon, 2005)
Broadly fits with humanist approaches to learning (Hargreaves' “new romantics”)
Associated with Dewey (1938), the constructivists Piaget and Bruner and the following...
Dewey J (1938) Experience and Education (various editions)
JSA
Knowles claims the application of SCL to adult learning, based on these claimed
features of adults
Malcolm Knowles: “andragogy” (1978)The need to know — adult learners need to know why they need to
learn something before undertaking to learn it.
Learner self-concept —adults need to be responsible for their own
decisions and to be treated as capable of self-direction
Role of learners’ experience —adult learners have a variety of experiences of life which represent the richest resource for learning. These experiences are however imbued with bias and presupposition.
Readiness to learn —adults are ready to learn those things they need to know in order to cope effectively with life situations.
Orientation to learning —adults are motivated to learn to the extent that they perceive that it will help them perform tasks they
confront in their life situations.
based on Knowles 1990:57
22 November 2010
Very influential in radical adult education; despite his critique ofthe “banking model” of education(see later) his own practice is not
really student-centred.
Paulo Freire
1921 - 1997
Brazilian educator: particularly adult literacy
Seen as a political as well as practical issue
Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972)
22 November 2010
“This book will present some aspects of what the writer has termed the “pedagogy of the oppressed”, a pedagogy which must be forged with, not for, the oppressed (be they individuals or whole peoples) in the incessant struggle to regain their humanity.
This pedagogy makes oppression and its causes objects of reflection by the oppressed,
and from that reflection will come their necessary engagement in the struggle for their liberation.
And in the struggle this pedagogy will be made and remade.”
From Freire P The Pedagogy of the Oppressed Penguin 1972:25
Freire
22 November 2010
a) the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
b) the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
c) the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
d) the teacher talks and the students listen—meekly;
e) the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
f) the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
g) the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;
h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not
consulted) adapt to it;
i) the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students;
j) the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects.
“Banking” education
Z P DC h i l d ’ s c u r r e n ta c h i e v e m e n t
B e y o n d r e a c ha t p r e s e n t
Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)
Probably the most influential theorist(via Bruner in the West)through his ideas of “social constructivism”where learning arisesout of interaction between the learner andothers, who may be teachers, but not necessarily in a formalsense
