reflection about learner centered teaching brainly essay

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

The Importance of ‘Learner-Centered’ Professional Development

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(This is the second post in a three-part series. You can see Part One here .)

The new question of the week is:

What is the best professional-development session you ever participated in, and what made it so good?

Nancy Frey, Ph.D., Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., Justin Lopez-Cardoze, and Marina Rodriguez kicked off this series .

Today, Pat Brown, Mary K. Tedrow, Jeremy Hyler, and Altagracia H. Delgado share their experiences.

‘Knowledge Is Not Passively Received’

Pat Brown is the executive director of STEM for the Fort Zumwalt school district in Missouri and the author of NSTA’s bestselling book series Instructional Sequence Matters:

Effective professional development relates to the cognitive science research on what we know about the best possible learning environments. The books How People Learn (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, 2000) and How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018) describe three interrelated factors that are essential for ensuring high-quality learning: learner-, knowledge-, and assessment-centeredness.

Learner-Centered

Fundamental to the idea of learner-centeredness is the idea that all knowledge is constructed through active experience. This means that knowledge is not passively received.

The learner-centered principle is rooted in a long-held constructivist idea that acknowledges people learn best when they actively construct knowledge that builds on prior understanding based on firsthand experiences with data and evidence. Long-lasting understanding is promoted when learners construct knowledge, connect details within a broader framework for understanding, and relate information with the knowledge they already have.

The ideas educators construct serves as the framework from which they try to advance their understanding. How educators think about their ideas, monitor, and reflect on their developing understanding is critical for regulating and being more self-reliant. Thus, professional development is most impactful if it allows educators to play an active role in learning. Passive professional-development experiences do not tap into the most potent, constructivist learning needed to develop deeper conceptual understanding from professional-development experiences.

Knowledge-Centered

If we all try to fit new experiences with prior knowledge, as learners, it follows that we learn most readily if the targeted ideas fit in a broader framework for what we should know and be able to do as educators. Knowledge-centered professional development focuses on the types of ideas, practices, and skills educators need to succeed. Knowledge-centered professional development homes in on the most crucial ideas and helps educators organize and optimize learning for educators. We have difficulty implementing overly challenging or multiple unrelated plans. Thus, focused knowledge development is vital to realize the full benefits of professional-development experiences.

Assessment-Centered

Finally, effective professional development is assessment-centered. As educators, we need high standards for learning and frequent feedback so we know we are developing skills necessary for success. Having means to assess our knowledge development is a way to evaluate our growth in knowledge (metacognition) and the effectiveness of our professional development on programmatic changes and student learning.

The Learning Culture

The principles underlying How People Learn and How People Learn II do not operate in isolation but are overlapping and deeply entrenched in one another to form the learning culture of the classroom. While I have described them as separate entities, the best learning environments operate at the nexus of the principles associated with learner-, assessment-, and knowledge-centered domains.

For example, the feedback advocated by assessment-centered learning directly influences individuals and their abilities to reflect on their developing understanding. In addition, the knowledge and standards used to design instruction directly impact the activities used to help people construct knowledge.

Finally, the goals chosen to guide instruction should closely align with the evaluations used to assess student understanding. The ideas behind How People Learn and How People Learn II show that a holistic approach is necessary to accommodate the intricacies of learning. The overlap of these three dimensions can create a positive school culture and climate that focuses on professional growth and uses best practices for adult learners.

Teachers Seen as ‘Knowledge Creators’

Mary K. Tedrow taught in the high school English classroom beginning in 1978, ending her K-12 career as the Porterfield Endowed English Chair at John Handley High School in 2016. She currently directs the Shenandoah Valley Writing Project at Shenandoah University in Winchester Va. Tedrow is also a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and is the author of Write, Think, Learn: Tapping the Power of Daily Student Writing Across Content Areas :

The hands-down, not-even-a-close-second professional development of my four-decade-spanning teaching career was the Invitational Summer Institute of the National Writing Project held on the campus of George Mason University in 1998 under the direction of the Northern Virginia Writing Project.

I am not the first, nor hopefully the last, teacher to identify the social practices of the NWP as the transformative milestone in my teaching practice.

What makes it so good?

First, teachers are welcomed as knowledge creators rather than knowledge receivers. Each fellow reflects on and reads about one of their own successful teaching practices and presents a lesson to the fellowship. The premise of the writing project is that teachers already have expertise in delivering instruction worth sharing. A trusting community is formed where that expertise is shared. From the very first day, we were treated with professional respect. Our group spanned K-university. Seeing language development across these grade levels made the experience surprisingly rich.

Secondly, we spent time working as writers. We were immersed in the writing process from invention through revision and finally to publication. The NWP believes we all need to be writers (students and teachers) and the best way to develop a writing process is to experience one.

Finally, we learned by doing. All presentations were demonstration lessons where the teacher/participants experienced the strategies and moves by the teacher presenter. This is far different from sit-and-get presentations. We experienced quickwrites, small-group collaboration, draft writing and revising, writing to learn, and more from a student perspective. We reflected regularly on how these practices could be adapted for use in our classrooms. Regular reflection became a professional habit.

The changes following the summer were immediate and ongoing. After feeling the confidence born of living up to expectations, I strove to create that climate for students. We wrote frequently in low-pressure situations long before students were asked for high-stakes writing. We shared our thoughts. I asked for student evaluations just as my leaders had included me in on the evaluation process. (What worked? What would you do differently?)

The NWP model works because teachers are treated the way we are often told to treat students but rarely experience ourselves in our working lives. The weeks spent in the summer changed my classroom into a place I did not want to leave and kept me in a continual search for solutions to my own classroom-based inquiries.

Learning How to Teach Writing

Jeremy Hyler is a middle school English and media-literacy teacher in Michigan. He has co-authored Create, Compose, Connect! Reading, Writing, and Learning with Digital Tools (Routledge/Eye on Education), From Texting to Teaching: Grammar Instruction in a Digital Age , as well as Ask, Explore, Write . Jeremy blogs at MiddleWeb and hosts his own podcast, Middle School Hallways. He can be found on Twitter @jeremybballer and at his website jeremyhyler40.com :

The best professional development I have ever been a part of was the summer institute for the Chippewa River Writing Project , a satellite site of the National Writing Project .

I attended the summer institute as my flame for teaching was almost burnt out. I really wasn’t sure how to reach students with their writing anymore. The professional development was a four-week intense writing institute where I learned not only how to write as a teacher but how to teach good writing to my students. In addition, I also learned what it meant to give meaningful feedback to peers and students.

Throughout the institute, I watched teachers become vulnerable with their own writing. They also shared their own writing lessons they did in their classrooms to get constructive feedback on what was quality instructional practice and what could be improved. As an added bonus, we were all taught how to effectively add technology into our classroom. We learned about Google Documents and created beautiful digital stories throughout the institute, along with being introduced to other digital tools.

For me, it was the best professional development because it lit my teaching fire again. I had renewed passion for what I wanted to do with my students. It was organized in a way that helped me build confidence in my own writing, so I could share it with my students and help them with the struggles they may have in being confident writers. Furthermore, I learned there are a network of teachers out there beyond the walls of my own school who are willing to help and be supportive when it comes to teaching. My writing-project peers are the best!

The support and the network of educators I have been exposed to because I attended the summer institute have led me down a road of continuous opportunities. Ever since I have been a part of the Chippewa River Writing Project, I have co-authored three books, presented at many conferences both in my own state and nationally, and have had many leadership roles. Without the writing project, my voice would have never been heard.

It continues to be the best professional development even today because I have been a part of the summer institute leadership team and have also been a participant for two additional summers. Plus, I continue to work on the leadership team to bring the best professional-development opportunities to teachers across the nation. I would highly recommend without hesitation to anyone to attend the summer institute at their local writing project site and make their voice heard.

‘Research-Based Strategies’

Altagracia H. Delgado (Grace) has been in the education field for 27 years. In those years, she has worked as a bilingual teacher, literacy coach, and school and central-office administrator. Grace is currently the executive director of multilingual services for the Aldine ISD, in the Houston area:

A few years ago, I participated in the Center for Applied Linguistics’ Spanish Literacy Institute: Fostering Spanish Language and Literacy Development. In this training, we learned research-based strategies to provide effective language and literacy instruction in Spanish in transitional bilingual and dual-language education programs.

The sessions were interactive and provided engaging activities for teaching academic language and literacy in Spanish and English to students in elementary grades instructional programs where Spanish and English are the languages of instruction. The presenters taught us about classroom practices by framing the understanding of how Spanish and English linguistic features are the same and different, helping us see where connections can be facilitated, where languages connect, and where specific instruction needs to be given due to the differences.

This training was the best I have ever attended because it modeled for us what real bilingual and dual-language classrooms teachers need to do during their day. By providing the sessions in both English and Spanish and having a combination of research and interaction among adults, we were able to experience the daily interactions of multilingual students and their teachers. The information was practical and applicable in a classroom setting, but it also provided answers for the many questions bilingual educators encounter in their professions, specifically those addressing the similarities and differences in the languages and how to systematically teach language acquisition for Spanish-speaking students.

Although this professional-development session took place six years ago, I still lean back on the principles learned at that time, especially when working with teachers of emergent bilingual students. In the years after that training, I have had the opportunity to provide professional-development sessions to classroom teachers and school leaders and I have used many of the practices and research learned during this training to engage adults in their own learning. I have also been able to witness teachers’ classrooms where the learning and connections have happened, as they have been able to apply this knowledge and experiences with their multilingual students.

Thanks to Pat, Mary, Jeremy, and Altagracia for contributing their thoughts!

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign—new ones are not yet available). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first 10 years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below.

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• Teaching and Learning

Is My Teaching Learner-Centered?

• February 14, 2018
• Maryellen Weimer, PhD

It’s hard to say—we have no definitive measures of learner-centeredness or even mutually agreed upon definitions. And yet, when we talk about it, there’s an assumption that we all understand the reference.

Questions like these can be useful in helping us to confront how we teach. They produce the most insights when asked sincerely and answered honestly. For most of us, there’s a gap between how we aspire to teach and how we actually teach. Given the less-than-objective view we have of ourselves as teachers, it’s easy to conflate aspirations with actualities.

The questions also can be used to prompt discussion between colleagues who wish to help each other explore the extent to which their teaching is learning-focused. They can be used by cross-disciplinary groups whose views, framed by what they teach, show how learner-centeredness looks from different angles. And, they can be used by departments or programs who aspire to be student-centered and need benchmarks to assess their progress. The question set is a work in progress, and I welcome your feedback on how we can make it better. Are we missing important questions? Should some questions be taken off the list? Please share in the comment box.

It’s good to remember that the characteristics identified in the questions are part of something larger. They define the concept operationally and with helpful details, but individual characteristics, even a collection of them, still provide an incomplete picture. It’s a bit like dissecting a flower. The parts are all there to examine, but they’re separate, and a flower is best understood and enjoyed in its integrated wholeness.

Characteristics of learner-centered teaching

• Does the course contain activities that put students in positions to learn from and with each other?
• Are students encouraged to discover things for themselves, or does the teacher usually tell them what they should know and do?
• Are there policies and practices in the course that promote the development of autonomous, self-directed learning skills?
• Is student input solicited on course topics, policies, assessment methods, and class activities?
• Is collaboration emphasized more than competition in the course?
• Is what’s being learned, why it’s being learned, and how it can be learned discussed more often than grades?
• Are students voluntarily participating or do they sit silently until called on to answer questions and make comments? Does their nonverbal behavior indicate they’d rather not speak?
• Do students talk more than the teacher during class discussions? Do students respond to each other or only to the teacher?
• Is it a course where questions play a more prominent role than answers?
• Are students being taught how to answer their own questions?
• Are mistakes handled as learning opportunities for the teacher and the students?
• Are skills like critical thinking and problem-solving taught explicitly?
• Is the teacher modeling how expert learners handle problems, find answers, deal with failure, and celebrate success?
• Are students being given the opportunity to develop self- and peer-assessment skills?
• Do students have the chance to practice the principles of constructive feedback (when they provide input about the course and/or about the work of their peers)?
• Do students regularly comment on evaluations that it was a course where they had to think? Or, was a course where they had to teach themselves (meaning the teacher held them responsible for learning)?

Additional articles on this topic:

• Five Characteristics of Learner-Centered Teaching
• Learner-Centered Pedagogy and the Fear of Losing Control
• Five Ways to Teach Students to Be Learning Centered, Too

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Distance Learning

Putting learners in charge: learner-centered teaching.

by Jessica Mansbach

The first paragraph of your course syllabus states, “Welcome to the course! In this course, we will cover many topics.” The first paragraph of your colleagues’ syllabus states, “Welcome to the course! In this course, you will learn about many topics.” Do you notice the difference? It may be subtle, but the phrases “we will cover” versus “you will learn” suggest differences in students’ role in learning. We will cover suggests that students play a passive role in class, learning what you decide to cover or teach. You will learn suggests that students will play an active role in the class, taking responsibility for their learning.

Learner-Centered Teaching Strategies: Why They Matter

Learner-centered teaching strategies help you design and teach a course in which students take responsibility for their learning. When students are in charge of their learning, they generate questions about course content, ask questions about how to learn and study, interact with their peers to solve problems, and practice critical thinking. Students’ motivation tends to increase since they have some control over their learning, and their retention of course content also tends to increase since they are questioning what they are learning and how they are learning it (Weimer, 2011).

However, many instructors believe that as subject matter experts, they are responsible for deciding what students should learn and how they should learn it. Many instructors with this belief think that they need to teach students the right answers to questions, decide what content to teach, and deliver content as efficiently as possible. This instructor-centered approach, though, puts students in a passive role and does not give them the opportunity to ask many questions, make choices about what content to learn, or understand why they are learning what they are learning. As passive learners, students’ motivation tends to decrease and they have little reason to interact with their peers (Peery & Veneruso, 2012).

In her article Changing the Way We Teach: Making the Case for Learner-Centered Teaching, Maryellen Weimer (2011), a scholar in learner-centered teaching, explains that using learner-centered teaching strategies may require that instructors alter the way they think about teaching and the strategies they use to teach. In a subsequent article, Five Characteristics of Learner-Centered Teaching , Weimer (2012) provides examples of how to shift from instructor centered-teaching to learner-centered teaching.

Examples Of Learner-Centered Teaching

1. teach students to think for themselves.

Asking students to generate discussion questions or summarize the weekly discussion are two ways you can ask students to think about what they are learning and what it means and to assume responsibility for their learning. Prior to asking students to generate discussion questions or summarize the week’s content, it is important that you model how to do both of those activities so that students get a sense of what they are supposed to do and how to do it. Using learner-centered teaching strategies, then, does not mean that you abdicate your duties as an instructor, since you should still be modeling what you want students to do and taking the time to construct meaningful discussion questions and other course content that aligns with course learning outcomes (Weimer, 2012).

2. Teach students vital skills they need to learn  

    Weimer (2012) explains “Learner-centered teachers teach students how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze arguments, generate hypotheses—all those learning skills essential to mastering material in the discipline” (para. 3). Students do not necessarily know how to demonstrate these skills, so designing activities that allow students to practice is important. For example, after sharing a few lecture outlines or demonstrating in a short video how to evaluate evidence, you can ask your students to create their own lecture outlines or evidence summaries (Weimer, 2012).

3. Teach students to reflect on how and what they are learning

A key premise of learner-centered teaching is that students need to know how to learn and how to evaluate whether they are learning. To help students develop the skill of reflection, include questions in assignments and activities that ask students about the process they went through to complete the task or about how they addressed any learning challenges (Weimer, 2012).

4. Allow students to make decisions about what content to learn  

    When students can make choices about what they want to learn, you enhance their motivation to engage with course content since they can pursue their own interests related to the content (Weimer, 2012). For example, you can assign students a research paper and allow them to select from a variety of topics. Or, you can allow students to submit an assignment as a paper or video.

5. Promote student-to-student interaction  

Learner-centered teaching strategies emphasize student-to-student interaction since students will learn about course content and the learning process by seeing how their peers think. As the instructor, you help facilitate meaningful student-to-student interaction by teaching students how to collaborate (Weimer, 2012). For example, before you ask students to work in groups to demonstrate discussion content or summarize the week’s content, you can give them a few short articles to read about how to have a productive collaboration.

For more information on how to use learner-centered teaching strategies, peruse the resources below or talk with a Learning Designer.

Peery, T. & Veneruso, S. (2012). Balancing Act Managing Instructor Presence. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/balancing-act-managing-instructor-presence-and-workload-when-creating-an-interactive-community-of-learners/

Weimer, M. (2012). Five Characteristics of Learner Centered Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching/

Weimer, M. (2011).  Changing the Way We Teach: Making the Case for Learner Centered Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/changing-the-way-we-teach-making-the-case-for-learner-centered-teaching/

Bain, K. (2011). What the best college teachers do . Harvard University Press

Bart, M. (2010) The Benefits of Making The Shift To Student Centered Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/the-benefits-of-making-the-shift-to-student-centered-teaching/

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (2000). Critical issue: Working toward student self-direction and personal efficacy as educational goals. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues//learning/lr200.htm

McKeachie, W., & Svinicki, M. (2013). McKeachie’s teaching tips . Cengage Learning.

Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice . John Wiley & Sons.

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Working At The Edge

Make School Different: Digital leadership & Transformation

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Five questions for learner-centered education.

By Randy Ziegenfuss

It’s been a few weeks of immersion in thinking and conversation around learner-centered education and the corresponding paradigm shift having recently attended Pioneer Lab Training and Big Picture Learning’s Big Bang Conference . Here are some of the questions that have surfaced for me:

Do you like the current context of education? If not, create a new context. Control the context…don’t let it control you. This question ultimately gets at agency and leadership. The school-centered paradigm has so many components that frustrate a wide array of stakeholders. Rather than complain about the shortcomings of the school-centered paradigm, it’s time to create a new context – one where learning happens in the learner and not to the learner; one where we leverage learners’ interests and passions; one where every learner is unique, capable, curious and with unlimited potential; one where we are unconstrained by how we learn, what we learn, where we learn, when we learn and with whom we learn. The paradigm shift is creating the new context.

What are your questions around the learner-centered paradigm? Do these resonate? What others would you add?

Connect with Randy on  Twitter , the  TLTalkRadio podcast , and the Shift Your Paradigm podcast !

Get new content delivered to your inbox and the ebook  3 Key Principles of Digital Transformation . The ebook contains valuable information from my experience leading a digital transformation and working with a variety of stakeholders over the past decade.

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The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

Beginning in 1990, the American Psychological Association (APA) appointed a special Task Force on Psychology in Education, one of whose purposes was to integrate research and theory from psychology and education in order to surface general principles that have stood the test of time and can provide a framework for school redesign and reform. The result was a document that originally specified twelve fundamental principles about learners and learning that, taken together, provide an integrated perspective on factors influencing learning for all learners (APA, 1993). This document was revised in 1997 (APA, 1997) and now includes 14 principles that are essentially the same as the original 12 principles with the exception that attention is now given to principles dealing with diversity and standards. [Note to readers: For those interested in research support for the Principles, several sources are relevant. The specific research and theory that was reviewed in developing the Principles is described in McCombs and Whisler (1997). Further research support is also provided in Alexander and Murphy (1998) and Lambert and McCombs (1998)].

The 14 learner-centered principles are categorized into four domains as shown in Table 1. These categories group the principles into research-validated domains important to learning: metacognitive and cognitive factors, affective and motivational factors, developmental and social factors, and individual difference factors. An understanding of these domains and the principles within them establishes a framework for designing learner-centered practices at all levels of schooling. It also helps define what "learner-centered" means from a research-validated perspective.

Defining "Learner-Centered"

From an integrated and holistic look at the Principles, the following definition emerges:

"Learner centered" is the perspective that couples a focus on individual learners - their heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and needs - with a focus on leaning - the best available knowledge about learning and how it occurs and about teaching practices that are most effective in promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning, and achievement for all learners. This dual focus then informs and drives educational decision making. Learner-centered is a reflection in practice of the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles - in the programs, practices, policies, and people that support learning for all.

This definition of learner-centered is thus based on an understanding of the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles as a representation of the current knowledge base on learners and learning. The Principles apply to all learners, in and outside of school, young and old. Learner-centered is also related to the beliefs, characteristics, dispositions, and practices of teachers - practices primarily created by the teacher. When teachers and their practices function from an understanding of the knowledge base delineated in the Principles, they (a) include learners in decisions about how and what they learn and how that learning is assessed; (b) value each learner's unique perspectives; (c) respect and accommodate individual differences in learners' backgrounds, interests, abilities, and experiences; and (d) treat learners as co-creators and partners in the teaching and learning process.

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Fullan, M. (2000, February). Change forces: The sequel. 2000 CHANGE Council Keynote Address presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Long Beach, CA.

Fullan, M. (1997). Emotion and hope: Constructive concepts for complex times (pp. 216-233). In A. Hargreaves (Ed.), Rethinking educational change with heart and mind: 1997 ASCD Yearbook. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Fulton, K., & Torney-Purta, J. (March, 2000). How teachers beliefs about teaching and learning are reflected in their use of technology: Case studies from urban middle schools. Paper presented at the International Conference on Learning with Technology, "Does Technology Make a Difference?," Philadelphia, Temple University.

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Reflections on Student-Centered Learning Part 1- Student Perspective

• Published November 27, 2015
• By SARAH HATTON

The International Association for K-12 Online Learning ( iNACOL ) hosted their annual Symposium in Orlando, FL. last week. I attended—along with over 3,000 educators, experts, thought leaders, and innovators—and left with a sense of both the enormity of the charge of educating all young people to succeed in the world of the future, and the importance of taking up this charge with the vigor and passion that was exhibited by symposium presenters and attendees.

Though I attended several thought-provoking and engaging sessions, the two that stand out for me are the ones that featured voices of the students and educators who are doing the hard (and rewarding) work to personalize learning. In these two sessions—the first a panel of high school and middle school student respondents from Charleston, South Carolina and Clermont, Florida, and the second a conversation with iNACOL Teacher of the Year Paula Barr— I was struck by how closely aligned these student and teacher experiences are with both what research tells us about the best approaches to teaching and learning, and with each other—the teacher experience with the student experience across age level and school district.

Here are my observations:

What does your classroom look like?

For the high school students, personalized learning classrooms are set with different work areas for students to move among throughout their day, including couches, comfy chairs, and modular circular tables that can be reconfigured into singles or small groups. The tables have white board surface so students can work out problems together directly on the tabletop. Students acknowledged that teachers and administrators might be reticent to put living room furniture into classrooms, but from their perspective having more comfortable chairs doesn’t make them relax; “it’s much easier to fall asleep in rows.”

Relationships (peer to peer and student-teacher)

Students note a significant change in their peer-to-peer and student-teacher relationships as a result of personalized learning. Students are encouraged to seek assistance from their peers before consulting the teacher. Unlike traditional stand and deliver education, it also gives them the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of their classmates as they learn that different peers have strengths in different areas. The peer interaction frees up teacher time for more one-on-one interaction with each student.

Student ownership

The students clearly and passionately conveyed that personalized learning has empowered them to take ownership of their education. They don’t feel that they need to get permission from the teacher for every move they make in the classroom, and are more frequently turning to their own problem-solving or the aid of peers as a first resort. This is derived from the class’ Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which states that when students encounter an academic hurdle, they will first consult a peer, second revisit course material, and third ask the teacher for assistance. Students in both schools had similar classroom procedures that were developed and agreed to by the students. This allowed them to feel that they had a stake in their classroom community. “You don’t want to agree to something you didn’t have a say in.”

Overall, the biggest change for these students was going from being told what to do every day to having to guide their own paths. With the help of their roadmaps, and after acclimating to the new way of learning, student love this new sense of ownership and responsibility.

Achievement

These students clearly feel increased ownership from personalized learning and are building strong relationships through their education. What about achievement, though? Are they learning as much as they did in traditional learning environments, or more?

The high school students spoke at length about their transition to mastery-based grading. Students compared this to growth mindset grading—the categories of “emerging” and “near mastery” make the students feel much more hopeful than Cs, Ds, and Fs. While they are only required to achieve the “mastery” level before moving on, students often strive for the “exceeding mastery” distinction. Students who have earned “exceeding mastery” are eligible to teach mini lessons for their peers.

One of the panelists shared that in more traditional classrooms, he often struggled with material but was reticent to raise his hand and ask additional questions because he didn’t want to slow the whole group down when everyone else was ready to advance. In the personalized learning environment though, “I can do everything at my own pace and actually learn it,” he said, “I can master it.” Their classroom is a no-judgment zone—it’s OK that some students are ahead and others are behind, and those students that are ahead are often capable and willing to help those that need support.

Preparation for the future

The students were very aware of the role high school plays in preparing them for college and their futures. They acknowledge that taking responsibility for their progress and learning is a skill they will use in college and beyond. They are learning important time-management skills and how to structure their workload to avoid procrastination. Finally, many of the students spoke about growth mindset and how they are applying growth mindset principles to their schoolwork and beyond. One student explained that he has been mentoring his older brother to adopt a growth mindset in his professional life to move beyond the career he feels stuck in to something more aspirational.

Advice for those who are just getting started

For the last question of the session, the moderate invited students to give advice to those just getting started with personalized learning.

For educators:

– Teachers need to know who their students are, what they’re learning, and how to respect the way they learn best – Adjustment and learning how everything works will take a while, but in the end it will help us with our future

For students:

– Be open to your teacher—don’t think they don’t know what they’re doing because they’re trying something new – Trust your teacher—they’ll be there for you even after you’re done for your classes – Don’t procrastinate – Keep track of your progress

For anyone:

– Personalized learning is awesome. You guys should try it! – Stay positive. It takes time to adjust—it can’t be implemented over night – Teachers and students need a growth mindset

Stay tuned for perspective gleaned from iNACOL Teacher of the Year Paula Barr’s featured session, next month on Students at the Center Everyday.

You might also be interested in, how our school shared student-centered learning with families.

Using a library system to check out STEAM kits, an elementary school shares student-centered learning with families.

10 Drivers of Student Engagement You Can Use Right Now

Whether learning occurs in brick-and-mortar schools or in virtual environments, student engagement drives student outcomes.

Three Lessons From New Hampshire’s Effort to Expand Deeper Learning

From a research-practice partnership comes lessons learned about how to scale deeper learning practices and authentic assessments.

Learning as I go: Reflections & lessons learned

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth @Rdene915 Educator, Consultant & Keynote Speaker, Author, Attorney #THRIVEinEDU

Creating a Learner-Centered Classroom

Guest blog by Kellie Bahri @Kbahri5

As a teacher in elementary school, I’m passionate about making the classroom a fun and engaging place where students can take charge of their own learning. The Learner-Centered approach puts students in the driver’s seat and encourages them to be more involved in their own education. This type of classroom is designed to fit each student’s needs, interests, and abilities.

Student-centered learning empowers students to take control of their own education by allowing them to explore topics, generate questions, and find answers on their own. This type of learning helps students develop critical thinking skills and encourages them to take an active role in their education. When students are given the freedom to direct their own learning, they are more likely to be engaged, motivated, and develop a deeper understanding of the material.

It has been demonstrated through research that a Learner-Centered Classroom can significantly enhance the motivation, engagement, and success of students. By adopting a student-focused approach, educators are able to facilitate the development of important skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and self-reflection in their students. With this student-centered approach, students will become more confident and empowered learners.

The implementation of seven key strategies can help the transformation of a conventional classroom into a student-driven learning environment, in which students are equipped with the skills necessary to take a lead role in their education.

Student-led discussions

I encourage my students to lead discussions in class by sharing their ideas and perspectives. I use strategies such as Think-Pair-Share or Socratic Seminar discussions to facilitate student-led conversations. During these types of discussions, students are given the opportunity to share their thoughts and engage in active listening with their peers. This type of student-led discussion promotes critical thinking and helps students develop strong communication skills.

Collaborative learning

 I encourage my students to work together in small groups or pairs on projects, assignments, or activities. Collaborative learning helps students develop important skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. I use techniques such as Jigsaw or Group Concept Mapping to encourage my students to collaborate and share ideas and I use online collaboration tools such as Google Classroom or Schoology to allow my students to work together on projects from anywhere. This type of learning not only promotes social and emotional growth but also helps students understand and retain information better through shared exploration and discussion.

Choice-based learning

 I believe in offering my students a range of learning options, allowing them to choose activities that interest them and align with their learning styles and passions. Choice-based learning is a student-centered approach that empowers students to take the lead in their learning. I use centers, stations, or choice boards to provide my students with a variety of options and let them choose what they want to work on. This type of learning creates a more engaging and personalized learning experience for each student and enhances student’s’ organizational skills. 

Inquiry-based learning

 Inquiry-based learning is a student-driven approach where students are encouraged to ask questions and engage in their own investigation to increase their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I use prompts such as “I wonder…” or “How can we find out…” to support inquiry-based learning, and provide opportunities for students to engage in hands-on activities, simulations, and experiments to support their investigations. And to make the process even more meaningful, I encourage students to keep a student inquiry journal where they can jot down all their curious questions about the world around them. This journal not only helps them keep track of their progress, but it also gives them a sense of ownership over their own learning journey.

Project-based learning

Project-based learning, a hands-on method of education where students engage in real-world projects that showcase their knowledge and skills, can lead to a deeper understanding of the material and increased engagement in the learning process. By working on challenging projects that require critical thinking, problem-solving, and application of knowledge, students can see the relevance of their education and make connections to the world around them. This approach aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) as it promotes active, meaningful learning and the development of skills that are essential for success in the 21st century. Examples of project-based learning activities may include creating a podcast, designing a website, or constructing a model of a historical landmark.

Self-reflection

I encourage my students to reflect on their own learning process and to think about how they can improve. This type of self-reflection helps students to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to set goals for themselves. By regularly reflecting on their own learning, students can better understand how they learn and how they can become more effective learners.I use online journaling tools such as Flip , SeeSaw , or Kidblog for students to document and reflect on their learning experiences.

In-class projects

I assign in-class projects that allow my students to apply the concepts and skills they have learned in class in a hands-on and engaging way. These projects can involve independent or group work and can be used to reinforce the material covered in class. For example, a student might create a poster or model to demonstrate their understanding of a particular subject. In-class projects give students the opportunity to be creative and to showcase their learning in a tangible way. This type of project also helps students to develop important skills such as research, collaboration, and presentation skills.

Imagine being in a classroom where the focus is on you and your learning journey. It’s all about empowering students to make the most of their education, and helping them understand the importance of what they’re learning. That’s what makes a Learner-Centered Classroom so special. A learning space for students to actively participate and be engaged is key to inspiring students and sparking a lifelong love for learning.

Kellie Bahri is an experienced instructional specialist, teacher, and children’s book author. With over a decade of experience in education, she has successfully implemented innovative instructional strategies resulting in improved student performance and engagement. As Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2020-2022, her dedication to education and creative teaching methods are highly regarded. Kellie also uses her writing talent to inspire a love of learning in young readers through her children’s book. Her goal is to make a positive impact on children’s lives and help them reach their full potential.

About the Author

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post  here . Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at  bit.ly/Pothbooks

************ Also check out my THRIVEinEDU  Podcast   Here !

Join my weekly show on Fridays at 6pm ET THRIVEinEDU on Facebook. Join the group  here

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