Learner Centered Teaching (LCT)

Learner Centered Teaching (LCT)

• LCT is a popular term in education, also referred to as a student-centered approach or learner-centered pedagogy.
• Maryllen Weimer's 2002 book is an early attempt to comprehensively discuss and define LCT.

Five Key Changes in Practice

• Implementing LCT involves five key changes within schools

Balance of Power

• Traditional classrooms place the power to decide the curriculum, learning activities, and assessments mainly with the teacher.
• Student-centered classrooms involve the teacher sharing power by consulting learners to make final decisions.
• Traditional power dynamics often benefit the teacher more than the student.
• A uniform instructional approach may be convenient for teachers, but it's often criticized for not addressing diverse student needs, interests, and readiness.
• Balancing power involves teachers consulting learners and providing them with immediate feedback.
• Empowering students to select lesson topics, choose learning activities, set the learning pace, and select assessment tasks demonstrates mastery of learning.

Function of Content

• Contemporary educational psychology suggests shifting from simply covering curriculum content to using it for learners to develop individual understanding and sense-making.
• Teachers are required to allow students to formulate their own questions and derive their own answers or solutions.
• Constructivism states that from a constructivist viewpoint, knowledge is not passively received but actively constructed by students, debunking the passive reception of information via lectures.
• Effective learning requires teachers to understand students' prior knowledge and design appropriate activities.
• Learner-centered teaching prioritizes competency-based learning, where students master specific skills and content before progressing.
• Accommodating different learning paces is crucial, ensuring students have adequate time to practice and demonstrate proficiency.
• Teachers must provide guidance and support to ensure students advance to new material when ready, accommodating varying paces.

Role of the Teacher

• Constructivism positions teachers as facilitators of learning, not as the sole source of knowledge.
• Teachers encourage exploration from multiple sources, sense-making, and personal organization of information.
• Effective learning requires teachers to involve students in the process of acquiring and retaining information.
• This perspective shifts the focus away from teaching techniques detached from subject matter and learning structures.
• Teachers transition from being exclusive content experts to facilitators, no longer focusing solely on presentation skills.
• Increasing student involvement is a central aspect of student motivation.

Collaboration

• Teacher involvement in clarifying subject matter, providing examples, or offering arguments can reduce students' need to think critically.
• Limited engagement from the tutor can be unsatisfactory and inefficient, undermining formal education.
• A shift from directive to consultative leadership is required, moving from "Do as I say" to collaborative planning.

Responsibility for Learning

• Modern education aims to foster independent, autonomous learners who take responsibility for their own learning.
• Adults can engage in self-directed, continuous learning throughout their careers and lives.
• Students require personalized learning, research, and analysis methods
• Students have a responsibility for their own learning.
• Autonomous self-regulating learning skills are teachable even at a young age, extending into higher education.
• Learning skills acquired in basic education are applicable throughout professional and personal lives.
• Modern learning is cooperative, collaborative, and community-oriented.
• Students are encouraged to direct their learning, collaborate on projects, and address culturally and socially relevant topics.
• Classes may begin with a mini-lesson, allowing students to make choices to meet specific learning targets.

Evaluation Purpose and Process

• Self-directed learning emphasizes the importance of self-assessment skills, requiring students to accurately self-evaluate.
• Capable learners know when they understand something and when they don't.
• Students review their performance and identify areas for further improvement
• Effective learners possess mechanisms for evaluating their performance and taking appropriate action

Four Principles of Student-Centered Approach

• A 2018 study by Kaput, funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and UMass Donahue Institute, surveyed 12 New England high schools about their use of learner-centered teaching
• Most participating schools successfully personalized learning and created an environment where students took ownership.

Key Tenets from the Study

• Learning is Personalized: Students engage in different ways across different places.
• Learning is Competency-Based: Students advance upon mastery, not based on time spent.
• Learning Happens Anytime, Anywhere: Education extends beyond the traditional school day and classroom.
• Students Take Ownership: Students incorporate interests and skills into their learning.
• Challenges included implementing "anytime, anywhere learning."
• Student-centered learning promotes higher student engagement
• Student-centered learning facilitates learning that is considered more relevant to students
• Student-centered environments allow for deeper curriculum exploration

Top 20 Principles for PreK–12 Teaching and Learning

• The American Psychological Association (APA) in 2015, put forward 20 principles for teaching and learning.
• These are for basic education teachers, grounded in decades of research on human learning, guiding learner-centered teaching.

Key Concepts for Educators

• Instruction should revolve around concepts related to prior knowledge, self-regulation, formative assessment, learner's belief on intelligence, mastery goals, summative assessment, creativity, interpersonal relationships, measuring with standards, teacher expectations, social interaction, fair interpretation, long-term knowledge, emotional wellbeing, feedback, contextual learning, positive relationships, student support, practice, and student support.