Principles of Good Practice for Students as Learners
For many years, teachers/professors have heard about “Seven
Principles of Good Practice” that are
suppose to inspire and guide their work in the classroom. Fundamental to these principles is the related
understanding that in the past generation or so we have been undergoing what
has been called a “paradigm shift” in education, moving from a model where the
teacher delivers information and students receive it, to a model where teachers
engage students in their own learning strategies and processes. One saying goes, that we have shifted the
teacher from being the ‘sage on the stage’ to being the ‘guide at the
side.’ And we are meant in the process
to put learning (and learning outcomes) at the center of our collective
focus. It is not so much about what ‘we
the teacher’ deliver (outputs) but about what students learn (outcomes).
It is not easy to break out of old models of relating to the
world—and education is no exception to this.
It is often noted how, for example, our academic calendar itself is a
product of an agricultural era gone by, where we attend classes around the daily, and annual cycles
of planting and harvesting. We also use
an industrial era model of ‘mass production,’ with our classrooms meant to be
like assembly lines—teachers add the missing ingredients to the students who
pass their way, and then they are sent down the line to the next worker/teacher
for the next addition.
Textbooks also shape our approach. They still represent a
“content delivery” model of learning, for the most part, rather than something
like a ticket to explore. They model a
system that sets a goal of content coverage, to “cover material” over usually a
15 week period. As much as textbook
companies have tried to incorporate new and exciting elements of learning
(usually multi-media on CD, or now, websites of supplementary material) into
their products, they often amount to little more than new modes of content
delivery—certainly, updated content, and now with multi-media, but content
delivery nonetheless.
In this context, students and teachers alike continue to
operate in the modes that reinforce and rely on the old model—the “is this
going to be on the test... I shouldn’t just lecture, but I have to cover the
material.... the teacher didn’t have us read the textbook that we bought for
the class...” content delivery model
of teaching and learning. How we
organize and arrange the furniture in our classrooms reinforces this. How we assess for student learning
reinforces this. The kinds of
assignments we use reinforce this.
So how do we break out of the old model, and into one that
is “learning centered”?
A first step might be to take note of some language we often
use. Teachers frequently talk about
what is “good pedagogy” (meaning, good teaching?) But as the educator Malcolm
Knowles has discussed in his writings since at least the 1970s, adult learners
are developmentally different, and motivated differently both in their
self-understanding as well as in their reasons and desire for learning. And this calls in turn for an approach to
teaching and learning that addresses these realities. http://www.citehr.com/15094-adult-learner-andragogy-vs-pedagogy.html He speaks in turn of ‘androgogy’ (adult-centered) rather than
‘pedagogy’ (children-centered) strategies for learning.
Then there are some principles to consider. I have to admit there is nothing magic about
these, nor anything official. They stem, instead, from reflection on
teaching... and I am sure that others would have additions to such a list,
likewise from their own experience. I
will not attempt to be exhaustive here, but to cover the main points that occur
to me, all centered around adult, self-directed learning.
- For any learner—discover what motivates you, and follow it with a passion!
- Don’t be afraid of clear and fair assessment from those who may be more knowledgeable-- in fact, look for it, take it to heart, and learn from it. This is how we can improve, whether to sharpen our thinking, polish our writing, or discover new understandings.
- Be an active subject of your own learning. And remember, many of your formal teachers are expecting you to be self-motivated and self-directed. Their not telling you what pages to read in a text book, or what you “need to know for the test” is most likely because they expect you have gained some skill and insight by now to understand these things for yourself. Likewise, the classroom is like a laboratory of discussion and exploration of ideas. An important skill in this context is to listen actively (asking questions, offering your own thoughts) as well as to keep track of what you are learning (taking notes?)
- Your teachers have studied for years in the subjects they are teaching. They have more depth of understanding than any Google search will ever give you. Engage them in the questions you have about the subjects you are studying. They don’t always know “the” answers—and they even make mistakes—but their learning experience has a breadth and depth about which you may only get glimpses when you see them in an introductory course.
- As a corollary to this, if something is not clear in a project, a schedule, or assignment, don’t hesitate to ask your teacher/professor! This goes for online learning as well as on-ground classes. If you have a question but are hesitant to ask, chances are there are others with the same question, who appreciate when someone finally speaks up.
- Explore ways to learn about sources of information and ideas that go beyond simply opinionating. To paraphrase the writer, Henry James, learning is about more than simply rearranging your prejudices. Explore viewpoints different from your own, and in the process, test the sources of those viewpoints for their accuracy, their fairness, their grounding in a careful understanding of history, society, and human culture.
- And on a practical note, if you miss class, it is a safe bet that, yes, you have missed something ‘important.’ ...Which means you should find out from others who attended the class what you did miss. And... it also means you shouldn’t ask your professor/teacher “did I miss anything important?” or “ can you tell me what I missed?”
- Androgogy vs. Pedagogy http://www.citehr.com/15094-adult-learner-andragogy-vs-pedagogy.html
- Seven Principles of Good Practice http://www.uis.edu/liberalstudies/students/documents/sevenprinciples.pdf
- Paradigm Shift in Education, From Teaching to Learning http://ilte.ius.edu/pdf/BarrTagg.pdf
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