DIMENSIONS OF LEARNER-CETERED TEACHING
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A CONTENT
A. THE FUNCTION OF CONTENT
In addition to building a knowledge base, the content facilitates students to:
• Practice using inquiry or ways of thinking in the discipline
• Students engage in most of the content to make it their own, students make meaning out of the content
• Learn to solve real problems
B. THE ROLE OF A TEACHER?
• A teacher’s role is to shape the life chances of young people by imparting knowledge bringing the curriculum to life
(Harry Cutty).
• Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students in their classrooms.
• Teachers serve many other roles in the classroom.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A TEACHER?
- Teaching Knowledge
- Creating classroom environments
- Role Model
- Mentoring
Learner-Centered Teaching
• Being learner-centered means adopting a bottom-up approach to curriculum, teaching, and management. Rather than
entering the school year with a set of fixed units and activities, a truly learner centered teacher begins by getting to know
her students and understanding their hopes, dreams, and needs.
• Learner-centered teachers may occasionally provide direct instruction, but for the most part, their role is one of the
facilitator.
ROLE OF A TEACHER
• Teachers who act as facilitators provide their students with materials, opportunities and guidance as students take on
agency for other aspects of their own learning.
• Being learner-centered is not easy because it requires constant flexible attention to who students really are, how they
are doing, and what might help them achieve their learning goals.
• Students in learner-centered classrooms become independent learners who are empowered to collaborate, make good
use of available resources, and take charge of their own growth and development.
C. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
• Students are the ones who should take the responsibility for learning.
• Learners has the ability to learn how to develop their own skills and think for themselves
• Often it is the faculty who does because we adapt our teaching to fit requests/ needs of students through detailed notes,
study guides
• Consequence of faculty taking responsibility for learning
• Students remain passive • Students do not gain confidence in their ability to learn on their own
• Yet a common goal of higher education is for graduates to be self-directed learners who can continue to learn the rest of
their lives
• Faculty need to teach students how to take responsibility for learning
• There are specific skills that can be taught, practiced and mastered
WHY DO YOU ASSESS STUDENTS?
D. THE PURPOSES AND PROCESSES OF ASSESSMENT
- Assessment is integrated within the learning process
- Instructors give formative feedback for the purposes of fostering improvement
- Students have multiple opportunities to assess themselves and their peers
- Students can learn from their mistakes and then demonstrate mastery
- Instructors encourage students to justify their answers when they do not agree with those of instructor
- Instructor uses authentic assessment throughout the course
HOW WILL YOU ASSESS YOUR STUDENTS?
- Names
- Needs
- Dreams
- Hopes
- Preferred learning styles
- Cultural backgrounds
- Important relationships
- Interest
- Personalities
• Knowing your students is one of the tough role of a teacher.
In a classroom of 20 children, you have 20 different learning styles and 20 different personalities, 20 different
ways of taking in information and giving information. Great teachers know this and know that one lesson plan, one
mode of teaching, is never going to be good enough. Can that teacher create 20 different lesson plans?
- Of course not, but that great teacher knows that their students are on different levels and have different ways
of processing information. What happens if students have some control over how the course is run
E. THE BALANCE OF POWER
• Learner-centered approaches empower students to take responsibility and to share in some of the decisions about their
courses
• Students can have some say over some policies, deadline
• Once students begin to gain some control over the course, they will engage more in the course and will learn more
dimension
Definition of this Dimension
The Function of Content - Content includes building a knowledge base, how the instructor and the students use the
content
The Role of the Instructor - An essential role of the instructor is to assist students to learn.
The Responsibility for Learning - Students should assume greater responsibility for their own learning over time.
The Purposes and Processes - There are additional purposes and processes of assessment beyond assigning grades.
The Balance of Power - The balance of power shifts so that the instructor shares some decisions about the course with
the students.
