Does learner-centred teaching motivate learners to learn?
What is learner-centred teaching?
Learner-centred teaching, which at times referred to as student-centred teaching and learner-centred instruction, is a key concept in constructivism; a theory in which "learners construct and reconstruct knowledge, in order to learn effectively" (A. Attard, E. Di Ioio, K. Geven, 2010). Students are the protagonists in learner-centred teaching, unlike teaching-centred teaching in which teachers take the centre stage. In learner-centred learning, students "construct knowledge through gathering and synthesizing information and integrating it with the general skills of inquiry, communication, critical thinking, problem solving and so on" (Perumal, 2015).
How do learners learn in learner-centred teaching?
The term 'learner-centred' depicts that learners are the active agents who determine how learning occurs. They "influence the content, activities, materials, and pace of learning" (Froyd & Simpson, 2000) and thus take responsibility of their own learning. The teacher, who takes the role of facilitator and coach, plays the key role of creating the necessary environment for the students so that they can learn independently. Learner-centred teaching
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In most lessons, I passively received the knowledge without questioning, as doing so might put me in hot seat, which I was not in favour of. Once in a blue moon, there were activities which required me to express, but they defeated the purpose as I regurgitated what I had received earlier without putting much thought into it. I was not willing to take the risk and put my opinion across, as doing so might have caused my grades to suffer. Looking back, I realise that I was focused more on the destination, not the journey. I was not motivated to learn, I was motivated to score better