MODULE in EDUCATION 8 – FACILITATING LEARNER - CENTERED TEACHING

Welcome to this subject, Educ 8 - Facilitating Learner- Centered Teaching!

Before you embark on your lessons in this course/subject, may I ask you these
questions: How do you find college work? Is it exciting or boring, etc.? How do you
cope with your studies or lessons? Is it easy or difficult?

Well, if we are in a face-to-face classroom and discuss your answers to these

questions, you will realize that there are a host of varied answers. One of these is the
TEACHER. You must remember that the TEACHER can do a lot in making the lessons
exciting or boring, easy or difficult for students. As pre-service teachers, you must
remember that your important role someday is to help your students facilitate their own
learning to make their school experiences relevant and meaningful.

LESSON 1 - LEARNER - CENTERED TEACHING

 Intended Outcome/Learning Objectives: In this lesson, you are expected to:

1. Differentiate learner-centered teaching from other teaching approaches

2. Discuss the need to shift from teacher-centered teaching to learner-centered
teaching based on philosophical foundations, teaching principles and current
research; and
3. Discuss the varied roles of the teacher in learner-centered teaching and learning.

 Stimulating Learning

Learning Activities:

Study carefully the pictures below and try to observe the ways in which classroom
scenario may differ. Then, write your observations on the matrix below:

Picture A Picture B

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin https://knowledgeworks.org/

Picture A Picture B

1
 Analysis:

1. Based from your observations, what kind of classroom does Picture A depict? How
about Picture B?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. From which classroom do you think will students learn meaningfully? Why?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_______________

 Lesson Proper

Traditionally, schools focus on what teachers do in the classrooms, not on what

students are learning which often leads to students who become passive and do not take
take responsibility for their own learning. This is what they call as teacher-centered
teaching.
Now, reforms have been introduced and schools have changed their view of
education. Educators believe that learning should focus on what students identify as
their needs and the teacher’s role is is to facilitate a process to assist students in seeking
the information they need to succeed. In short, they emphasize the idea that education
should focus more on the learners.

An Internet source, teachingcommons.unt.edu, says: “Learning cannot be

accomplished by teachers or instructors; it must be accomplished by learners.”

If we view learning as something accomplished by learners rather than caused by

teachers, then, we refer to it as learner-centered teaching. Specifically, what is it?

Internet sources define it in many ways. According to them, learner-centered teaching:

 Is an approach that places the learner at the centre of the learning. This means, that
the learner or student is responsible for learning while the tutor is responsible for
facilitating the learning.

2
 focuses on the learners and their development rather than on the transmission of
content; addresses the balance of power in teaching and learning, moves toward
learners actively constructing their own knowledge, and puts the responsibility for
learning on the learners. (IGI Global Dictionary)
 an approach in which students have control over the learning process (Darsih, 2018)

What characterizes, therefore, a learner-centered teaching?

Darsih (2018) says that with learner-centered teaching, teachers function

as facilitators of learning rather than lecturers. In this way, teachers do less
telling; students do more discovering. The roles of the teacher in the learner-
centered approach are to design the course such that it creates a climate for an
optimal learning; model the appropriate expected behavior for the students;
encourage students to learn from and with each other; and provide more feedback
throughout the process.
Learner-centered teaching forces students to play an active role in their education, as
opposed to the more passive role traditionally used. In other disciplines, the learner-
centered approach promoted more in-depth learning and facilitated students’
development into independent learners.

In line with that, Brown as cited by Darsih (2018) stated that learner-centered
teaching includes: 1) techniques that focus on or account for learners’ needs, styles, and
goals; 2) techniques that give some control to the students; 3) curricula that include the
consultation and input of students and that do not presuppose objectives in advance; 4)
techniques that allow for students’ creativity and innovation, and 5) techniques that
enhance a student’s sense of competence and self-worth.

The matrix below presents Blumberg’s five dimensions, or areas, of learner-

centered teaching, which are: 1) the function of content; 2) the role of the instructor; 3)
the responsibility for learning; 4) the purposes and processes of assessment, and 5) the
balance of power. 

Table1: Five Dimensions of Learner - Centered Teaching

Definition of this An Essential Instructor-Centered Learner-Centered
Dimension
Dimension  Component Approach Approach 
Content includes
Instructor encourages
building a knowledge
Level to which Instructor allows students to transform
The Function base, how the
students engage students to and reflect on most the
of Content instructor and the
content. memorize content. content to make their
students use the
own meaning out of it. 
content.
Teacher
 Does not
have specific
Teacher uses learning goals Teacher intentionally
An essential role of the teaching and learning and/or uses various teaching
The Role of the
teacher is to assist the methods appropriate  Uses learning methods that
Teacher
students. for student learning teaching and are appropriate for
goals learning methods student learning goals
that conflict with
learning goals

The Responsibility Students should Responsibility for Instructor assumes all Instructor provides

3
 responsibility for
students learning
(provides content to increasing opportunities
assume greater memorize, does not for students to assume
responsibility for their learning should rest require students to responsibility for their
for Learning
own learning over with the students.  create their own own learning, leading to
time.  meaning of content, achievement of stated
tells students exactly learning objectives. 
what will be on
examinations).  
Instructor
 Uses only
Consistently throughout
summative
the learning process,
There are additional assessment (to
Formative instructor integrate
The Purposes and purposes and make decisions to
assessment (giving  Formative
Processes of processes of assign grades)
feedback to foster assessment
Assessment assessment beyond
improvement. 
assigning grades.   Provides
 Constructive
students with no
feedback 
constructive
feedback 
Instructor is flexible on
most
 Course policies
 Assessment
The balance of power Instructor mandates methods
Flexibility of course
shifts so that the all policies and  Learning
policies, assessment
The Balance of instructor shares some deadlines. methods
methods, learning
Power decisions about the or  Deadlines
methods, and
course with the Instructor does not
deadlines.  
students.  adhere to policies.  
Instructor always
adheres to what
instructor has agreed to
with the students. 

Here ends your first lesson. I hope you understand fully well what you have read.

You have just completed the first lesson in this module. I hope you
have read all its contents, understood them well, and of course, did your activities well
before submitting them to me.

References:

Darsih, Endang. LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING: WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE

Indonesian EFL Journal, Vol. 4(1) January 2018
p-ISSN 2252-7427, e-ISSN 2541-3635
33

4
https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/learner-centered-teaching/40896