Key takeaways
-
Student-centered learning puts the student in the driver’s seat, giving them increased autonomy in their learning.
-
The benefits of student-centered learning are numerous, including the development and sharpening of critical thinking and other lifelong learning skills.
-
Despite some obstacles, implementing student-centered learning can become a reality with a few simple guidelines.
Imagine a classroom in which students are excited about learning. A classroom where students are asking questions, collaborating, and engaged in their learning. A classroom where students are learning by doing rather than just sitting and listening. Does this sound too good to be true? In this era of stringent academic standards, standardized testing, and students as passive receivers of information, it may seem to be, but it’s not. These are characteristics of a classroom where student-centered learning is happening.
What is student-centered learning?
Student-centered learning puts the student in the driver’s seat by giving them the autonomy to choose what and how they learn. Rather than acting as a vessel to be filled to the brim with knowledge, as in a traditional classroom setting, students in student-centered learning classrooms are active participants in building their own knowledge, with teachers serving as facilitators, guiding and providing continuous feedback.
How are students constructing their own knowledge? Typically, in a student-centered learning classroom, this is accomplished through active inquiry, collaborative projects, project-based learning, and hands-on learning stations. In other words, the students are doing the heavy lifting instead of the teacher. As the guide or facilitator, the teacher’s goal is not to impart knowledge but rather to spark curiosity in students and encourage critical thinking skills such as questioning, investigating, discussing, and applying. These skills, as well as other lifelong learning skills, are honed as students construct knowledge of concepts through active engagement and discovery.
In a student-centered learning classroom, learning is performance-based, with a focus on real-world application and student sensemaking. Self-assessment is also a critical component of student-centered learning, as students must take time to reflect on their knowledge construction and learn to make in-flight adjustments. This helps students build important self-awareness and self-management skills that will continue to serve them throughout life.
Benefits of student-centered learning
In addition to strengthening the critical thinking and lifelong learning skills already mentioned, student-centered learning offers numerous benefits. By fostering students’ autonomy, they naturally become more engaged and motivated in their learning because it is interesting to them. They begin to view themselves as the architect of their own learning. This builds intrinsic motivation, a catalyst for improved information retention, deeper learning, and overall greater academic success.
Additionally, student-centered learning allows students to develop and practice communication, teamwork, and social skills. These are skills that many of our students today lack.
By allowing students to take ownership of their learning, we are helping to put them on the path toward developing a lifelong love of learning, and shouldn’t that be our ultimate goal as educators?
Challenges of student-centered learning
Despite the many obvious and well-researched benefits of student-centered learning, many educators struggle to overcome a variety of challenges. The biggest challenges of them all are common in schools: lack of time, training, resources, and support from administrators. Without the time and money dedicated to training educators in student-centered learning, many don’t know where to even begin. Most educators weren’t trained to facilitate student-centered learning, so they aren’t equipped with the knowledge or resources to get started. This can make it difficult for teachers who want to implement student-centered learning in their classrooms, particularly if their building administrators don’t support this endeavor or lack the know-how themselves.
Additionally, so much emphasis is placed on content standards, pacing guides, and standardized test scores that many educators feel they can’t stray far from the curriculum provided to them. They are carrying the weight of student growth and success on their shoulders every day, and it often doesn’t seem as though there’s room for creativity.
How to implement student-centered learning
While switching to student-centered learning may seem daunting and come with challenges, a few steps can make the transition a bit easier.
- Adjust your mindset. It’s time to begin thinking of yourself as a facilitator of learning rather than a giver of information. Begin by taking time to reflect on your role in the classroom, and intentionally plan to do less lecturing and leading, and more guiding students through open-ended questions and discovery in your lessons, using a variety of educational resources.
- Set expectations for yourself and your students. It’s important to help students understand the changes that are being made and how their role as learners will look different. Additionally, since student-centered learning relies more heavily on collaborative learning, project-based learning, and active inquiry, students need to know what the expectations are for each of these learning strategies. What does successful collaboration look and sound like? What is expected of them when collaborating or working on a project with peers? What does it mean to be an active inquirer? Keep in mind that there is going to be a bit of a learning curve for everyone. This is a new and different way of learning, and that’s to be expected.
- Start slow! There’s no need to dive in and change everything at once. That will likely be overwhelming for both the teacher and students anyway. Identify a few student-centered learning strategies to implement, and get everyone comfortable with them before adding more.
- Introduce the element of choice to students. This is a critical component of student-centered learning and one that will likely take some time for everyone to adjust to. Choice boards are a simple yet effective way to provide students with autonomy in their learning. By integrating choice boards, you are giving students the freedom to choose which topics to explore or how to demonstrate their understanding of the content.
- Encourage student self-assessment. One important aspect of student-centered learning is self-assessment. For many students, this will be a novel concept. Start building those muscles now by encouraging reflection and providing students with opportunities to assess their own learning. It will take time and patience, but eventually, students will learn to be more reflective and thoughtful.
While there may be a learning curve when transitioning to a student-centered classroom, the benefits for students are well worth the time, effort, and planning involved. What could be better than watching students grow into reflective, curious learners who find real joy in learning?
