Benefits of learner-centred teaching

The learner-centred method should ideally be a preferred choice among the many pedagogical approaches available to today’s teachers. But, in reality, very few teachers opt for it despite the rewards the practice promises.

Perhaps, the biggest obstacle to its adoption in India is our educators’ traditional mindset, which places importance on teachers for all our knowledge transactions and engagements. Most teachers do not want to step down from the hallowed pedestal that they are all-knowing and are indeed the only knowledge repositories.

Learner-centred teaching questions this usurped privilege by teachers. Based on the Constructivist theory championed by Swiss clinical psychologist Jean Piaget Learner-centered pedagogy offers enormous space for the learner to construct knowledge, thereby shifting the focus or even tilting the role by assigning precedence to the learner.

The origin of learner-centred teaching is attributed to F H Hayward’s ‘celebration’ teaching method, which he advocated when he was a Schools Inspector for the London County Council in 1905. However, John Dewey, an American philosopher, further strengthened the concept in the 1950s. Later, Carl Rogers, the father of client-centred counselling, expanded this into a general education theory.

Learner-centred approach, no doubt, is an effective tool if implemented correctly. At the same time, careless and partial execution would defeat the purpose and may prove counterproductive. Given this backdrop, what should educators bear in mind while adopting this pedagogy? What best can they do to gain the maximum benefits out of this?

Fundamentally, while implementing this method, the understanding that the learner is at the centre and not the teacher should be the foremost reckoning teachers must accept. Once this is achieved, the following characteristics will become easy to realise.

Power sharing

In teacher-centred teaching, teachers hold absolute authority over the preparation of course content, choice of pedagogy, designing and administering assignments, and deciding the rubrics for evaluation. Learners are treated like empty vessels into which the teacher transfers knowledge. In contrast, in the learner-centred method, this sole privilege or unlimited power assigned to the teacher automatically gets shared as the learner is an equal partner in this scheme. The learner and the teacher are essential; both play a crucial role in these matters through a consultative approach.

Covering the syllabus

Since the focus is on learning, the rush to complete the syllabus takes a backseat. The excitement of discovery displaces the importance of covering the syllabus. Teachers play the role of enablers, facilitating understanding, and helping learners create knowledge. Students are given the space to explore and experience learning. Here, it is the promotion of learning that is paramount, not the acquisition of grades.

Major advantages

Students are active learners in this model. It allows room for deep learning. The sense of autonomy that students enjoy makes them responsible and accountable. The value of mutual respect, relevance, and the importance of interdependence is profoundly felt. That learning has to be approached from multiple dimensions resulting in multiple worldviews, each student constructing knowledge based on their own understanding of the world, is the biggest takeaway from this model. It is entirely experiential, therefore.

Challenges for teachers

Apart from the hurdle of surmounting the conventional mindset, teachers in India are generally restricted by regulatory agencies which make unrealistic and unreasonable demands. In addition, local administrators’ insistence on routine compliance may further dent their motivation. Finally, this pedagogy also requires that teachers spend extra time and energy in the preparation and execution of content.

Worth the effort

Despite all these challenges, adopting this pedagogical method and meticulously implementing it will definitely augment student learning. The teaching-learning process will become thoroughly engaging, experiential, and utterly delightful. Students graduating from such environments will continue to exhibit a thirst for knowledge creation and contribute productively to social development. Failure to enable such a conducive atmosphere for authentic learning is likely to increase the cynicism surrounding our educational system, as seen in this quote, “I was born intelligent, but education ruined me.”

(The author is the dean, the School of Arts and Humanities, Christ (Deemed-to-be) University, Bengaluru)