Student Centered Vs. Teacher Centered Learning
Just as learners have individual learning styles and preferences, teachers have different preferred styles of teaching and beliefs about pedagogy. Teachers may use a combination of styles and their preferred methods of teaching may constantly evolve throughout their careers. Two contrasting styles often employed by teachers are student centered learning and teacher centered learning. It is vital that students are learning effectively and responding appropriately to teaching methods used during educational instruction. Because students ‘perceive and gain knowledge, form ideas and think differently and have different background knowledge, skills and dispositions, a one size fits all approach is unlikely to be very successful’ (Killen 2009, p126).
Student Centered Approaches
In student centered approaches, emphasis is placed on the student and their learning. Student centered teaching involves taking into account the needs, abilities, interests and learning styles of the students when planning learning experiences. Students come from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds and will each have different life experiences, access to resources and forms of capital. Student centered planning must reflect acknowledgement of the diverse array of backgrounds from which students come and the notion that this is likely to influence their academic achievement and their approaches to learning (Killen 2009). Students are also expected to be active participants in facilitating their own learning through hands-on experiences and student centered interactions. Student centered learning promotes autonomy and self-regulation (Murdoch & Wilson 2008).
Teacher Centered Approaches
Teacher centered approaches are highly structured teaching methods in which the learning content is made very explicit to the students. The students are directed by their teacher to achieve specific outcomes, usually via clear explanations and opportunities for learners to passively apply new knowledge through practise and rote learning (Pearson 2009). Teacher centered instruction allows for knowledge and content to be transferred directly to the learner in an organised and sequential manner. This instructional approach is time effective, a vast amount of curriculum material can be covered during lessons and student behaviour is relatively easy to monitor and manage. However, some students may know the correct answers to questions but may not understand the relevance of the facts or the underlying concepts required to solve problems in new contexts. The method does not take into account the varying learning styles of the students and may result in the suppression of curiosity, innovation and higher order abstract thought (Minter 2011).
References:
- Killen, R 2009, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.), Cengage, South Melbourne, Victoria.
- Minter, MK 2011, ‘Learner-Centered (LCI) Vs. Teacher-Centered (TCI) Instruction: A Classroom Management Perspective’, American Journal of Education, vol.4, no.5, pp55-62.
- Murdoch, K & Wilson, J 2008, Creating a Learner-centered Primary Classroom: Learner-centered Strategic Teaching, e-book, accessed 17/10/2012, library@UOW.
- Pearson, N 2009, ‘Radical Hope: Education and Equality in Australia’, Quarterly Essay, vol. 35, no.1, pp35-38.
Student Centered Approaches
In student centered approaches, emphasis is placed on the student and their learning. Student centered teaching involves taking into account the needs, abilities, interests and learning styles of the students when planning learning experiences. Students come from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds and will each have different life experiences, access to resources and forms of capital. Student centered planning must reflect acknowledgement of the diverse array of backgrounds from which students come and the notion that this is likely to influence their academic achievement and their approaches to learning (Killen 2009). Students are also expected to be active participants in facilitating their own learning through hands-on experiences and student centered interactions. Student centered learning promotes autonomy and self-regulation (Murdoch & Wilson 2008).
Teacher Centered Approaches
Teacher centered approaches are highly structured teaching methods in which the learning content is made very explicit to the students. The students are directed by their teacher to achieve specific outcomes, usually via clear explanations and opportunities for learners to passively apply new knowledge through practise and rote learning (Pearson 2009). Teacher centered instruction allows for knowledge and content to be transferred directly to the learner in an organised and sequential manner. This instructional approach is time effective, a vast amount of curriculum material can be covered during lessons and student behaviour is relatively easy to monitor and manage. However, some students may know the correct answers to questions but may not understand the relevance of the facts or the underlying concepts required to solve problems in new contexts. The method does not take into account the varying learning styles of the students and may result in the suppression of curiosity, innovation and higher order abstract thought (Minter 2011).
References:
- Killen, R 2009, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.), Cengage, South Melbourne, Victoria.
- Minter, MK 2011, ‘Learner-Centered (LCI) Vs. Teacher-Centered (TCI) Instruction: A Classroom Management Perspective’, American Journal of Education, vol.4, no.5, pp55-62.
- Murdoch, K & Wilson, J 2008, Creating a Learner-centered Primary Classroom: Learner-centered Strategic Teaching, e-book, accessed 17/10/2012, library@UOW.
- Pearson, N 2009, ‘Radical Hope: Education and Equality in Australia’, Quarterly Essay, vol. 35, no.1, pp35-38.