Teacher Centered and Learner Centered Approaches to Instruction

PL01 - Psychology of Learning

Jose Idelfonso
November 7th, 2011
Secondary Teacher Education Project

There are two opposing viewpoints on how to properly instruct children in the classroom.
There is the teacher-centered approach where the role of the teacher is to dispense facts and the
role of the student is to listen and memorize said facts. In the child-centered, or constructivist,
approach the children are more in control of their education. They do hands on activities to
promote a higher order of thinking (analysis, critical thinking), and projects are usually branched
off from the main topic of discussion. Critics of the child-centered approach say that children
waste too much time with such activities and would be better served learning mathematics facts
and physics. Advocates of the child-centered approach say that allowing children to make
discoveries of their own is vital to obtaining a higher order of thinking which better serves
children throughout their lives. Supporters also assert that in most classrooms there is simply
only the occasional child-centered activity but that classrooms have largely remained teachercentered (Abbeduto, 2006 as cited in Davidson R. 2011).
Teachers need to rethink their role as teachers. Is a teacher simply the dispenser of
information or is a teacher the facilitator of learning? Windschitl states that current teachers
simply copy the teachers they had had as children which hinder the goal of going beyond the
teacher-centered method of rote memorization to learning. He says that therein lies the problem
of creating a truly constructivist classroom. Educators are married to the current norms of
curriculum and standardization. A part of the issue may lie in the greater depth of knowledge
teachers will need to have in the topics that they teach. Windschitl uses the concept of density as
an example. In a constructivist classroom there would be different groups of students tackling the
issue of density using a variety of methods. One group may take a purely mathematical approach
while another may use the story of the Titanic. The teacher would need to have an understanding
of the mathematical concepts with density as well as the complexity of the issue as illustrated in

the sinking of the Titanic. Once a teacher reconciles this issue the hands on, child-centered,
approach will lead children to be more engaged in the topic being studied and allows them to
learn how to think critically and analytically, as well as learning problem solving skills. He also
states that teachers needs to have a firm understanding of why they are using the constructivist
approach instead of the widely accepted teacher-centered approach, since it is inevitable that
someone would ask them why they run their classroom the way they do. Assessments will need
to be made of each childs progress using journals, reports, and other projects that demonstrate
the students understanding of the topic being studied which will aid in determining whether or
not the class is meeting the standards of education. To aid teachers in giving children the best
education possible school administrators need to be supportive in the less is more concept,
encourage teacher collaboration, and school wide changes such as block scheduling. (Windschitl,
1999, as cited in Davidson R., 2011).
On the other hand there are times when the teacher does act primarily as the dispenser of
knowledge. In Kindergarten there is much in the way of teacher directed activities because the
children are too young to take charge of their own academic learning. A child is not going to
discover phonics without a teacher telling them about the relationship between sounds and letters
and words. This does not mean that there cannot be some activities that give children creative
freedom, such as painting a holiday themed picture. In my classroom I usually ensure that my
students get the time they need to create a good piece of work, I also provide tools they need to
do so, and the techniques and instructions on how to use the tools effectively create a good piece
of work. Time, tools and techniques also apply to other subject areas, in my subject Information
Technology. Students need time to understand IT concept, they need the tools to work with
computers, and they need instructions effectively use their time and tools provided to them.

An artist cannot be rushed when creating a piece of art without compromising the
intended finished work. A child learning how to read cannot be rushed without compromising
their ability to become fluent readers. A child learning number sense cannot be rushed into
learning addition and subtraction without compromising their future understanding of
multiplication and division. Breadth is important. People need to be well rounded. In fact,
breadth is so important that there are general education requirements in college. However, depth
is also needed; otherwise the information will have no lasting value to the student and will not be
retained.
The old adage of, practice makes perfect, is true and correct. We know that the more
you read the better you get at it. The more you work at playing the piano the easier it gets to sight
read and to play more complex pieces. Practice is important. No one with their head on straight
will say otherwise, and I dare say that most advocates for a child-centered approach have their
heads on straight. Practice, however, does not denote understanding. If a six year old can read at
a 5th grade level that does not mean they understand what they are reading. If a preschool aged
child knows their ABCs it does not mean that they connect it to reading. This is where we need
reflective inquiry and innovative classroom activities to gauge the actual understanding of
students, and help facilitate understanding. Reflective inquiry is often out of the picture in a
teacher-centered classroom where the teacher does most of the thinking (Brown, 2003, as cited in
Davidson R., 2011). The teacher-centered approach does work, but it does not mean that we
cannot do better. Mimeographs and type writers have been replaced with the more efficient
computer. Should we still widely use those today? Granted, the teacher-centered approach is not
nearly so outdated, and still has its place, but the argument that its worked for all these years, as

is (Hirsch, 1996), is a bit fallacious and closed minded. Modern thought and technology have
simply made old ideas better.
Both the teacher-centered approach and the child-centered approach have value. When
this is understood by teachers they pedagogically improve. Over generalizations of the two
approaches lead to a dichotomy that should not exist and can be harmful (Schuh, 2004, cited in
Davidson R., 2011). Either approach is not appropriate in all situations and cannot cover all of
the complexities and idiosyncrasies of subjects and teaching situations (Ahara, 1995, cited in
Davidson R., 2011). Polarizing the issue can cause an unbalanced approach to teaching, which
would be a great disservice to students.

References
Brown, K. L. (2003). From teacher-centered to learner-centered curriculum: Improving
learning in diverse classrooms. Education, 124(1), 49-54.
Davidson R. R. (2011). Teacher-centered Vs. Child-centered Classrooms. Retrieved
November 5th, 2011 from: http://ruthiechan.net/wordpress/2010/03/teacher-centered-vs-childcentered-classrooms/
Hirsch, Jr., E. D. (1996). Realitys Revenge: Research and Ideology. American Educator.
Katsuko H. (1995). Teacher-centered and child-centered pedagogical
approaches in teaching children's literature. Education, Vol. 115, 1995.
Retrieved November 5th, 2011 from:
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000309307
The University of Tennessee (2008). Planning for Instruction: Instructional Methods
What are instructional methods? Retrieved November 5th, 2011 from:
http://itc.utk.edu/~bobannon/in_strategies.html