Chapter 1 In traditional teaching in most classes teachers are

FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED working much harder than students.

TEACHING

LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING 2. Learner-centered teaching includes

- Learner-centered teaching means inverting explicit skill instruction.
the traditional teacher- centered understanding of the Students learn how to think, solve problems, decision
learning process and putting students at the center of making, team work, evaluate evidence, analyze
the learning process arguments, generate hypotheses for all those learning
skills essential to mastering material in the discipline.
Note: In the teacher-centered classroom, teachers are
the primary source for knowledge. 3. Learner-centered teaching encourages
students to reflect on what they are
Unit1: Learner-centered teaching: Foundations learning and how they are learning it.
and characteristics They challenge student assumptions about learning
and encourage them to accept responsibility for
LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING decisions they make about learning;
- It is an approach to teach that focuses on
student learning • rather than on what the 4. Learner-centered teaching motivates
teacher is doing students by giving them some control over
- Learner-centered teaching is not one specific learning processes.
teaching method Teachers make most of the decisions about learning
- Many different instructional methods can for students. Teachers decide what students should
use a learner-centered approach. learn, how they learn it, the pace at which they learn,
- The path to good teaching can be much the conditions under which they learn and then
easier to navigate when we view students as teachers determine whether students have learned.
our traveling companions.
- The more we know about them and how 5. Learner-centered teaching encourages
they learn, the more likely we are to collaboration
experience the joy of teaching. Learner-centered teachers work to develop structures
that promote shared commitments to learning.
Learner Centered Objectives:
- Learner-centered approach shifts the focus
of activity from the teacher to the learners
- Emphasizes what the learners do as against LESSON 2
what the teacher does.
- It focuses on skills and practices in a PARADIGM SHIFT: TEACHER-CENTERED
lifelong learning, creative thinking and TO LEARNER-CENTERED
independent problem-solving.
- It insist the learners to actively construct PARADIGM SHIFT
their own knowledge. OLD-INSTRUCTION PARADIGM
- An educational institution exists to provide
5 CHARACTERISTICS OF instruction.
LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

1. Learner-centered teaching engages

NEW-LEARNING PARADIGM
students in the hard, messy work of
learning. - An educational institution exists to produce
learning.
 students with the course content through talking and
listening, writing, reading and reflecting.
INSTRUCTION PARADIGM
- The most common teaching method used is Can we move to a student-centered approach in
lecture. stages?

► Slow, thoughtful, reflective transitions to

Does this method promote student learning?
student-centered learning approaches are likely to
lead to the most sustainable changes in teaching.
Think about your own learning, how did you learn
► Begin with informal cooperative learning
best?
approaches:
a. Think-pair-share
THE LECTURE MODEL
b. Round tables
c. Minute paper
ECONOMICAL - able to cover large amounts of
information in a short period of time.
As you develop comfort with a small set of
approaches, expand your set.
ROLES
Consider a more involved activity.
► Teachers are active.
►Students are passive and receptive.
1. Jigsaw
► Students are listeners not learners.
2. Team projects
WHAT RESEARCH TELLS US?
ROLES OF STUDENTS:
► Most people only remember 20% of what they
► Moves from the role of note taker to active
hear.
participant in the learning process.
►The longer the lecture, less of the information
► Allows students to take control over their learning
ended up in the
and, therefore, forces them to take more
responsibility in the classroom.
student's notes.
► Evidence indicates that students learn and retain
BENEFITS OF STUDENT-CENTERED
more information when they are actively involved in
LEARNING
the learning process.

1. Provides opportunities for higher order thinking

LEARNING PARADIGM
as opposed to passive listening.
2. Promotes greater student-faculty and
►Uses student-centered/active learning techniques to
student-student Interaction.
get students involved in the learning process
Focuses on the student's needs, abilities, interests, 3. Increases student retention.
and learning styles. 4. Provides for improvement of social interaction
►Acknowledges students' voice as a central to the skills, greater acceptance of others, and a greater
learning experience for every learner.
sense of "community" in the class.
► Requires students to be active, responsible
participants in the learning process. 5. Encourages alternative forms of assessment.
6. Encourages innovation in both teaching and
What is student-centered/active learning? student involvement.

►Any well-structured, teacher-guided, REMEMBER:

student-centered activity that "substantially involves
1. Learning is most meaningful when topics are Realism
relevant to students' lives, needs and interests. Idealism
2. The students have to be engaged in higher order Existentialism
thinking tasks such as analysis, problem-solving, Constructivism
synthesis, and evaluation. Naturalism
3. Instructional activities should involve students in
doing things and thinking about what they are doing. From teacher- centered to learner-centered teaching
4. Students are not just memorizing information but 1. Philosophical perspectives
they are allowed to work with and use the Teacher-centered philosophies
information alone or with peers. - Essentialism
5. Learners are treated as co-creators in the learning - Perennialism
process. Learner-centered philosophies
6. Their diverse thoughts and perspectives are - Progressivism
- Humanism
necessary input to every class.
- Constructivism

Teacher-centered philosophies
Chapter 2 - Focus is on instructor - Focus is on language
Philosophical Foundations forms and structures (what the instructor
knows about the language)
Philosophical Foundation - Instructor talks; students listen
- The philosophical foundation of the - Students work alone
curriculum helps determine the driving - Instructor monitors and corrects every
purpose of education, as well as the roles of student utterance
the various participants. - Instructor answers students9 questions about
language
- While all foundations propose to set goals of - Instructor chooses topics
curriculum, philosophy presents the manner - Instructor evaluates student learning
of thinking from which those goals are - Classroom is quiet
created.
Learner-centered philosophies
Existential Questions - Focus is on both students and instructor
What is life? - Focus is on language use in typical
Who am I? situations (how students will use the
Why am I here? language)
What am I living for? - Instructor models; students interact with
What is reality? instructor and one another
Is the universe real? - Students work in pairs, in groups, or alone
What is good to do? depending on the purpose of the activity -
How shall I live life meaningfully? Students talk without constant instructor
monitoring; instructor provides
School Questions feedback/correction when
Why do I teach? questions arise
What should I teach? - Students answer each others questions, using
How should I teach? instructor as an information resource -
What is the nature of the learner? Students have some choice of topics
How do we learn? - Students evaluate their own learning;
instructor also evaluates
Philosophical Foundation - Classroom is often noisy and busy
 - This philosophy advocates training the
Teacher-centered philosophies mind.
- Essentialist educators focus on transmitting
- Teacher-Centered Philosophies are essential difficult topics and promotion of students to
for the longevity of education and the the next level or grade.
continued influence of teachers in the - Subjects are focused on the historical
classroom. In this article two context of the material world and culture,
teacher-centered philosophies will be and move sequentially to give a solid
reviewed which are essentialism and understanding of the present day
perennialism. - This philosophy stresses core knowledge in
- The teacher is an expert on the subject reading, writing, math, science, history,
matter and the students are there to learn foreign language, and technology. The tools
from a "master”. include lecturing, memorization, repetition,
- The teacher is in full control of the course. practice, and assessment.
He or she selects the projects/texts. The
work is produced for and graded by the Perennialism
teacher. - The word itself means,
- The teacher dispenses wisdom and the “eternal”, everlasting.
students absorb it. - Timeless
- Teacher-centered philosophies - Can’t Change
- Teacher-centered philosophies are those that - Timeless
transfer knowledge from one generation of - Classic
teachers to the next. - Some Ideas in the past are still relevant
- In teacher-centered philosophies, the today
teacher's role is to impart a respect for - A teacher-centered educational philosophy
authority, determination, a strong work that focuses on everlasting ideas and
ethic, compassion for others, and sensibility. universal truths.
- Teachers and schools succeed when students - primarily concerned with the importance of
prove, typically through taking tests, that mastery of the content and development of
they have mastered the objectives they reasoning skills.
learned. - Focuses on everlasting ideas and universal
truths learned from art, history, and
Essentialism literature.
- William C. Bagley (187431946) - Perennialism is similar to essentialism in
- was one of the most influential advocates of that teachers guide the educational process.
essentialism. Perennialism is a teacher- centered
- He believed that education was not supposed philosophy, in which the teacher is less
to change society but to preserve it. concerned with student interest and more
- Traditional way of teaching concerned with transferring knowledge from
- Back to Basic, traditional academic older generations to younger generations.
disciplines. - The teacher will focus on the importance of
- Refers to traditional or back basic approach reading and will often use the underlying
of teaching reading lessons to make a moral point.
- The teachers impart knowledge mainly Teachers use history, religion, literature, and
through conducting lectures, during which the laws of science to reinforce universal
students are expected to take notes. ideas that have the potential to solve any
- Essentialism is the educational philosophy problem in any era.
of teaching basic skills.
 - A perennialism teacher would have a - Therefore, knowledge is constructed by
classroom in which all the students are students as they experiment and solve
treated the same way problems.
- Material is taught and delivered to the - John Dewey - The progressive education
students whether they like it or not. philosophy was established in America from
- Perennialism is stated as being a cousin to the mid 1920s through the mid 1950s. John
essentialism because they both advocate Dewey was its foremost proponent.
teacher-centered classrooms, both tolerate - One of his tenets was that the school should
little flexibility in the curriculum, both improve the way of life of our citizens
implement rigorous standards and both aim through experiencing freedom and
to sharpen student democracy in schools.
- Perennialists organize their schools around - Progressivism gave a strong emphasis on
books, ideas, and concepts. PROBLEM BASED learning to develop
SOLVING and ANALYSIS skills.
Learner-centered philosophies - Instructors should focus on providing
- Students are the focus. students with the necessary skills and
- Knowledge and learning is created by the knowledge to survive and to succeed in our
class competitive society.
- Everyone learns from each other--including Therefore it’s an;
the teacher. - Experience-based learning
- Focusing on the needs of students - Or learning by doing
- Student-centered philosophies focus more - Or learn best in real time activities
on training individual students - Human knowledge should be linked to
- Less authoritarian, less concerned with the practical social experiences
past and <training the mind=, and more - Or practice new education
focus put on individual needs.
- Preparing students for a changing future What are the roles of teachers?
- Learner-centered philosophies - As a facilitator or guide
- These philosophies place more emphasis on - Determine student interest
the individuality of students and helping - Involve students in curriculum development
them to realize their potential - Stimulate direct learning process

To sum up;
Three types of student-centered philosophies will be - Progressivists believe that individuality,
discussed which are process, and change are fundamental to
• Progressivism one’s education.
• Constructionism - People learn best from what they consider
• Humanism most relevant to their lives.
- Progressivists center their curricula on the
Progressivism needs, experience, interest and abilities of
- Progressivism is the educational philosophy students.
which is grounded in the pure philosophy - They emphasize on group activity and group
of Pragmatism problems so that the students learn through
- Pragmatism focuses on real-world problem COOPERATIVE LEARNING
solving and individual development. STRATEGIES.
- Learning is an active, democratic and social - Progressivism is an anti-athoritharian,
process. experimental and visionary and aims to
develop problem solving ability.
HUMANISM new knowledge upon the foundation of
- A philosophy stance which affirms the fact previous learning.
that humans have dignity and worth and that - This prior knowledge influences what new
they are capable of discovering truths about or modified knowledge an individual will
the world and humanity’s place within it construct from new learning experiences
purely by appealing to reason and scientific (Phillips, 1995).
method. - Process of adjusting our mental models to
- Humanist are usually non-religious people accommodate new experiences
that they believe that the universe is just a - Knowledge is not a thing that can be simply
natural phenomenon with no supernatural deposited by the teachers, into the empty
aspect mind of the learners. Rather, knowledge is
- Humanists feel the world through the constructed by learners through an active
vantage point of reason and scientific mental process and development.
method.
- This naturalistic and scientific view of the
world has deep implications on how the
humanists view the human person
- The humanists see the human person as not
distinct from the rest of nature. For the
humanists the human person is nothing but a
purely worldly creature whose existence is a
product of purposeless natural processes
over a long period of change and
development.
- For this reason, the humanists have a
perfect feeling of being at home in the world
- As Andrew Copson writes “The universe
thus discerned by our senses appears a
natural phenomenon, behaving according to
principles that can be observed, determined,
predicted, and described. This is the
universe inhabited by the humanist”
- Because the human person is not distinct
from the nature and that her existence is a
product of purposeless natural processes
- The humanists reject the idea of a
meaningful life.
- For humanists, the idea of meaningful life as
part of a divine plan is inconceivable. The
only “purpose” or “meaning” in life is the
one created by humans themselves. Explain
why in humanism people make their own
purpose in life, set their own goals and give
meaning to their own life.

Constructivism
- Constructivism’s central idea is that human
learning is constructed, that learners build