Teacher-centered learning fosters a culture whereby the learner does not outgrow his dependency on

the supervising instructors and teachers. One of the main goals of modern pedagogy by contrast is to
create strong self-directed learners. A teacher- centered learning environment does by definition neither
facilitate nor empower a learner’s autonomous study-skills and subsequently lifelong learning skills.
Since the learner is only being assessed by the teacher or instructor, critical assessment of oneself and
others is not an intrinsic part of teacher-centered learning. Standardized grading and monopolized
assessment encompass a traditional top-down approach. Assessments are in many cases only carried out
as summative and not formative evaluations and they rarely address qualitative issues of the learner’s
progress. In contrast to a traditional grading system, multi-perspective assessment focuses on the
learner’s performance as a problem-solver, researcher and team-player. Teacher-centered learning limits
itself to a specified content as proposed by the teacher or instructor. The learning process therefore
stops upon its expected delivery. The learner acknowledges the authority of the teacher or instructor on
any content to be justified a priori. The main critique of this approach is for the learner to merely master
limited sets of knowledge, e.g., by memorizing content or applying rehearsed formulae, without
addressing actual process-skills as needed in professional practice. The modern education tends to shift
from the teacher-centered to the student-centered learning. In actuality, the development of the
modern education stimulates educators and students to change their traditional approach to education
and to learning. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that student-centered approach becomes
particularly effective in the contemporary environment because students tend to become more and
more autonomous in the course of learning. The latter results from the emerging need for students to
learn independently of their teachers and, what is even more important, students need to carry on
learning even after the end of their education. At the same time, many specialists (Sporre, 2003) argue
that modern students have different needs and wants and educators need to use the student-centered
approach to organize the learning process effectively. In actuality, educators need to develop their
professional skills and abilities and extend their professional knowledge far beyond the mere education
and training but they should also extend their professional knowledge, skills and abilities to the field of
psychology and culture. In fact, educators should focus on the student-centered learning to reach
success in their work with students and, what is more important, in such a way, they prepare students to
the life-time learning because students grow more confident in their ability to learn, when educators use
the student-centered approach to learning.Our phone lines are closed Monday 27th May. You can still
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Difference between Teacher and Learner Centered Approach

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06/07/17 Education Reference this

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The modern education tends to shift from the teacher-centered to the student-centered learning. In
actuality, the development of the modern education stimulates educators and students to change their
traditional approach to education and to learning. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that
student-centered approach becomes particularly effective in the contemporary environment because
students tend to become more and more autonomous in the course of learning. The latter results from
the emerging need for students to learn independently of their teachers and, what is even more
important, students need to carry on learning even after the end of their education. At the same time,
many specialists (Sporre, 2003) argue that modern students have different needs and wants and
educators need to use the student-centered approach to organize the learning process effectively. In
actuality, educators need to develop their professional skills and abilities and extend their professional
knowledge far beyond the mere education and training but they should also extend their professional
knowledge, skills and abilities to the field of psychology and culture. In fact, educators should focus on
the student-centered learning to reach success in their work with students and, what is more important,
in such a way, they prepare students to the life-time learning because students grow more confident in
their ability to learn, when educators use the student-centered approach to learning.

The shift from teacher-centered to student-centered learning

In actuality, the shift from the teacher-centered learning to the student-centered learning has become
obvious. In this respect, it is important to understand causes of the shift toward the student-centered
learning in order to define clearly the major directions in the development of the student-centered
learning. Basically, the teacher-centered learning was grounded on the position of educators as the
highest authority. The main function of a teacher was to teach students, to provide them with
information, to help them to learn the learning material and to acquire certain set of knowledge along
with basic skills and abilities the education aims at.

However, today, such an approach to learning is out-of-date and it does not work effectively anymore. To
put it more precisely, the modern technology and science keep progressing at the unparalleled pace. In
such a situation, the provision of students with a rigid set of knowledge has little positive effects on the
further professional and personal life of students because the rigid set of knowledge becomes out-of-
date fast and by the end of the school or college, students need to start learning on and on to keep pace
with the rapidly changing technology and science. In such rapidly changing environment, students need
to be able to find effective approaches to learning to be able to learn autonomously of educators.

In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that each student is unique and educators
should shift toward the student-centered learning, where educators perform the role of a guide, who
helps students to develop basic skills and abilities and to acquire knowledge students need in their
regular life as well as in their future professional career. Specialists (Doll, 2001) stand on the ground that
the student-centered learning increases the effectiveness of learning because educators find the
individual approach to each student. This means that educators learn the cultural background of
students, their psychological peculiarities, individual characteristics, their academic successes and
current level of development. In such a way, using the aforementioned information, teachers can apply
the student-centered learning to meet needs and wants of each student and to prepare him or her to
the effective learning.