Tuesday, 2 December 2008

Independent Learning Projects in practice

Experiential Learning and the teacher as facilitator

Carl Rogers investigated the relationship between teachers and students and found that approx. 25-30% of students are self-directing, the rest will do just what they are supposed to do. He recognised two types of learning: cognitive, the memorisation of different things and experiential, the applied knowledge that comes from doing, for example active inquiry and problem-based learning (Freedom to Learn 1969). This is why the role of the teacher becomes crucial. Rogers saw the role of the teacher to be one of facilitator - a person who creates an environment for learning:

  • students participate, control and direct the learning process
  • self-evaluation is used to assess student learning.
  • experiential learning is fostered when the instructor is not teaching directly, but facilitates learning

It is very challenging to be able to gage how much guidance is needed for a certain group or individual student without giving them too much direction. Too much direction moves away from their sense of ownership of the learning journey. So, to follow in the spirit of Carl Rogers, teachers need to find the right balance as a facilitator and provide enough direction so that the learners can identify and tackle areas of difficulty on their own. What can we do to ensure that this balance is maintained?

More at Staffroomproject.com

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