Moving towards more student-centred learning and teaching

on

 By Beth Melia-Leigh


The American University of the Middle East in Kuwait


Student-centred education remains a key strategic priority for the University of Sheffield and was the theme for this year's highly successful Education Conference. The concept of student-centredness in Higher Education is also gaining traction globally and earlier in the year, a colleague and I were invited to deliver a professional development event on the same theme to academics working across a variety of disciplines at the American University of the Middle East in Kuwait. 

Participants participated in a series of online and in-person (learner-centred!) activities and sessions, which created a space for discussion and reflection and provided practical ideas for them to implement in their own teaching. Drawing on this experience, as well as insights from the Education Conference, this blog post encourages you to reflect on your own teaching through the lens of student-centred education.

Learner-centred education 

What is learner-centred education? 

Schweisfurth (2013: 20) defines learner-centred education (LCE) as "a pedagogical approach which gives learners, and demands from them, a relatively high level of active control over the content and process of learning. What is learnt, and how, are therefore shaped by learners' needs, capacities and interests." 

From this, I believe we can extract the following key tenets: 

  1. LCE is an approach, not a methodology. In other words, it is based on a broad set of principles and attitudes towards learning and teaching, rather than being a step-by-step guide of how to teach. 
  2. LCE views learners as active agents who bring their own knowledge, experience and ideas to the learning process. 
  3. LCE recognises the uniqueness of every learner and learning experiences are developed with the learners' needs, preferences and abilities in mind. 
LCE is underpinned by a set of core values and beliefs, which are consistent with aspirations of inclusive education and align with the University's new Inclusive Education Practices policy:

Valuing all individuals and the experience they bring to the classroom

Believing that all students are capable of learning given the right support.

Valuing a range of competencies and skills.

Viewing educators as facilitators of learning and lifelong learners themselves.

Characteristics of learner-centred education

Although LCE is flexible and can be adapted for different learning contexts, the approach emphasises the following key characteristics:

Active participation: learning by doing; group and pair work; problem solving
Adapting to needs: drawing on learners' prior knowledge; appealing to different learning preferences and abilities; varying pace
Autonomy: independent learning; individual responsibility; learning to learn; self-reflection; goal setting
Formative assessment: viewing learning as an ongoing process; monitoring learning; encouraging peer and self assessment 
Power sharing: learners are involved in decision making; power distances are reduced; all voices are valued; evaluation and feedback are sought
Relevant skills: content is relevant to learners' lives; embedding of 21st century skills, e.g. analysis, critical thinking, creativity and lifelong learning.

(See Bremner, 2021 for a more in-depth exploration of these characteristics.)

Principles of learner-centred education

Learner-centredness as a complex phenomenon

LCE is often contrasted with teacher-centred (or curriculum-centred) education. Where the latter traditionally views learners as passive recipients of knowledge, LCE believes learner experience and ideas inform what is taken in and how knowledge is applied. Thus, as we have seen, learner-centredness moves the emphasis away from traditional teacher-led methods to actively engaging learners in their educational journey. 

However, given the complexity of the phenomenon, and the range of learning and teaching contexts in which it may be adopted, Schweisfurth (2013) suggests that LCE may be better viewed as a continuum in which educational practice can be conceptualised from less learner-centred to more learner-centred:


less learner centred                                              Pedagogy                                    more learner-centred
← — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — →

In this way, it is not simply a case of an educator's pedagogy being teacher-centred or learner-centred, but rather considering where certain practices sit on the continuum at any given point during the learning experience. 

Moreover, if we take Alexander's (2009) definition of pedagogy as being what is observable and what is believed, then the concept of LCE actually encompasses many different aspects, which can also be placed on continuums: 

'talk and chalk'                                                     Techniques                         independent group inquiry
← — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — →

authoritarian                                                       Relationships                                              democratic
← — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — →

extrinsic                                                        Learner motivation                                            intrinsic
← — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — →

Top-down (decontextualised)                          Curriculum                                 bottom-up (needs driven)
← — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — →

individual cognitive activity                           Learning                                                     social activity
← — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — →

Reflect: Is there anything that you could do to move further to the right in any of these areas? Do you want to? Do you think it is desirable to implement student-centred teaching in all situations? Why / Why not? 

What emerges is a complex picture involving a range of attitudes, values and beliefs, some of which may be more learner-centred than others. Therefore, any move towards embracing more student-centred educational practice is likely to be a slow, gradual process requiring small steps, collaboration and mutual support, and ongoing reflection and action.  

Benefits of learner-centred education

Here are what I believe to be some of the key benefits of adopting a student-centred approach:

→ Increased motivation and engagement

→ Improved collaboration and teamwork

→ Improved critical thinking, risk-taking and problem solving skills

→ Increased learner independence and decision making

→ Application of learning

→ Long term retention and application of knowledge

→ Preparation for the real world

Upon reading the above list, it becomes immediately apparent that such skills and personal attributes will stand our students in good stead for their future endeavours, be this in academia, industry or simply as engaged, global citizens. Thus, adopting a student-centred approach appears to be an effective way to prepare and inspire our students to develop and realise lifelong, transferable skills, aligning well with the University's employability priority and helping them to see the wider relevance of their studies.

Practical applications

What does learner-centred education look like?

In a practical sense, here are some things we might expect to see in a learner-centred educational environment: 
✔ Group projects and discussions
✔ Checking students' understanding by asking and encouraging questions
✔ Developing learner autonomy and choice
✔ Meaningful tasks based on the real world
✔ Aligned assessment and content
✔ Opportunities to apply knowledge 
✔ Variety
✔ Providing appropriate support
✔ Clear and meaningful feedback
✔ Asking students to evaluate teaching and activities

Reflect: How do the suggestions above compare with your current pedagogic practices? Do you think it is necessary to adapt how you or your students approach learning and teaching in any way? Why / Why not?

Learner and teacher roles

Implementing a student-centred approach may involve a subtle shift in the roles that we adopt as educators and those that we expect our students to take on. I have found the following checklist a useful tool for reflecting on my practice through the lens of LCE, both at the planning stage and post-teaching: 

How can I / Did I…

How can my learners / Did my learners…

  • invite learner participation?

  • provide meaningful opportunities to practice applying concepts? 

  • act as a resource, monitor and provide support as needed?

  • draw on students' existing knowledge and experience? 

  • effectively adapt learning materials? 

  • provide opportunities for learners to reflect on their own learning and evaluate the learning experience? 

  • enable learner independence and encourage learning beyond the classroom?



  • participate and contribute?

  • build skills through purposeful, contextualised, real-world tasks?

  • work cooperatively? 

  • communicate authentically about themselves and their experiences?

  • contribute their own ideas and materials? 

  • engage in self- and peer-evaluation?

  • take responsibility for their own learning? 


Final thoughts

Just as I stressed to the content lecturers I worked with in Kuwait, in raising awareness of SCE my intention is not to try to get you to completely change your pedagogy or beliefs about learning and teaching. Instead, I encourage you to consider small tweaks that you could make to your practice in order to maximise student engagement, increase learning opportunities and create an inclusive, sustainable learning environment, both in and out of the classroom. 

References
Alexander, R. (2009). 'Towards a Comparative Pedagogy' in Cowen, R. and Kazamias, A.M. (eds) International Handbook of Comparative Education, pp. 923-942. Springer.
Bremner, N. (2021). ‘The multiple meanings of 'student-centred' or 'learner-centred' education, and the case for a more flexible approach to defining it’, Comparative education, 57.2. 159–186. 
Schweisfurth, M. (2013). Learner-centred Education in International Perspective: whose pedagogy for whose development? Abingdon: Routledge.

Beth Melia-Leigh is a University Teacher in TESOL in the School of English.