Student-Centered Learning 🎓 (21st Century Education)

Summary

Paul from Pear Tree Education discusses the concept of student-centered learning, emphasizing that it involves students doing the work, not teachers. He contrasts this with teacher-centered classes and highlights the importance of project-based learning for student autonomy. Paul also touches on the need for teachers to act as mentors, allowing students to make mistakes and learn from them, ultimately fostering essential life skills.

Takeaways

• 📚 Student Centered Learning is misunderstood and often confused with teacher-centered learning where the teacher does most of the work.
• 🤔 The key question to determine if a class is student-centered is to observe who is doing the work in the classroom: the teacher or the students.
• 🔍 Content relevance to students' lives is crucial for making learning student-centered, but it's not enough if the teacher dominates the class.
• 👨‍🏫 In a student-centered classroom, the teacher has minimal 'air time', focusing on guiding rather than lecturing.
• 👥 Project-based learning is highlighted as an effective method to implement student-centered learning, giving students control over their projects.
• 🚫 Signs of a teacher-centered class include the teacher doing all the talking, interrupting students, and correcting their viewpoints to align with the teacher's own.
• 📝 Teachers may inadvertently impose their views on students through grading, which can politicize the content and discourage diverse perspectives.
• 🗣️ In student-centered learning, students engage in more talking, complex communication, public speaking, peer teaching, and opinion defending.
• 🔎 Students are expected to conduct research, use critical thinking to evaluate information, and form their own informed opinions based on data.
• 💻 Developing computer skills for research, online communication, and presentations is an integral part of student-centered learning.
• 👥 Teamwork, problem-solving, organization, planning, and time management are essential skills developed through group projects in student-centered environments.
• 🧩 Students are encouraged to take on different roles within their groups, which may be pre-set by the teacher or self-invented based on group needs.
• 💡 The essence of student-centered learning is the opportunity for students to learn by doing and making mistakes, fostering self-evaluation and growth.
• 👨‍🏫 The teacher's role is to act as a mentor, providing minimal guidance and allowing students to explore, make mistakes, and learn from the process.
• 🤝 Peer teaching and learning from classmates is emphasized as a valuable part of the learning process, challenging cultural norms that may discourage it.
• 🌐 The teacher should facilitate an environment where students can respect and learn from each other, despite potential resistance.
• 🔄 The persistence of teacher-centered classrooms is partly due to the way teachers were educated and the curriculum design, which perpetuates traditional teaching methods.
• 💡 The call for teachers to reflect on their teaching methods, let go of control, and empower students to take charge of their learning is a central theme of the script.

Q & A

What is the main focus of today's video by Paul from Pear Tree Education?

The main focus of the video is student-centered learning and how it differs from teacher-centered learning.

How does Paul define a student-centered class?

Paul defines a student-centered class as one where the students are doing most of the work, not the teacher, and the content is relevant to the students' lives.

What is the primary role of the teacher in a student-centered classroom according to the video?

In a student-centered classroom, the teacher's primary role is to act as a mentor, providing minimal guidance and allowing students to discover and learn on their own.

Why is project-based learning considered an effective method for implementing student-centered learning?

Project-based learning is considered effective because it puts students in control of the project, allowing them to take the lead in research, planning, and execution.

What are some signs of a teacher-centered class as mentioned in the video?

Signs of a teacher-centered class include the teacher doing all the talking, interrupting students, correcting their viewpoints, and grading based on agreement with the teacher's beliefs.

How does Paul suggest that teachers should handle their own biases in the classroom?

Paul suggests that teachers should be aware of their biases, avoid being hypocritical, and allow room in the class for students to have views that oppose their own.

What skills are students expected to develop in a student-centered learning environment?

Students are expected to develop skills such as communication, public speaking, peer teaching, research, critical thinking, data analysis, teamwork, problem-solving, organization, planning, and time management.

What is the importance of allowing students to make mistakes in a student-centered learning environment?

Allowing students to make mistakes is important because it provides them with the opportunity to learn from their errors, engage in self-evaluation, and improve their understanding through the learning process.

How does Paul describe the teacher's role in facilitating student collaboration and learning from peers?

Paul describes the teacher's role as observing students, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and encouraging them to learn from each other, even if it means letting a student who excels in a particular area teach their peers.

What cultural shift does Paul believe is necessary for effective student-centered learning?

Paul believes that a cultural shift is necessary where students let go of their pride, respect their peers' abilities, and are open to learning from each other rather than just from the teacher.

What is the final thought Paul leaves the viewers with regarding the role of a teacher in student-centered learning?

Paul's final thought is that even if a teacher can teach great content, they are not a great teacher if they do not allow students the opportunity to learn by doing and making mistakes.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Student Centered Learning: The Key to 21st Century Education

Paul from Pear Tree Education introduces the concept of student centered learning, emphasizing the importance of students doing the work in the classroom rather than the teacher. He explains that in a truly student centered class, the teacher has minimal air time and the content is relevant to students' lives. Paul highlights the contrast between teacher centered and student centered classes, where the former is characterized by the teacher doing all the talking and imposing ideas, while the latter involves students actively participating in discussions, projects, and research. He also touches on the challenges of transitioning from a teacher centered approach to one that encourages student autonomy and critical thinking.

05:01

🏫 The Role of Teachers in Student Centered Learning

In this paragraph, Paul discusses the role of teachers in a student centered learning environment. He suggests that teachers should act as mentors, providing minimal guidance and allowing students to take the lead in their learning process. He criticizes the tendency of teachers to dominate the classroom and emphasizes the need for teachers to let go of control, enabling students to engage in self-directed learning. Paul also addresses the importance of allowing students to make mistakes and learn from them, as well as the need for teachers to facilitate peer teaching and collaboration. He stresses the importance of teachers observing and guiding students, rather than simply imparting knowledge, and encourages a shift in educational culture that values student contributions and peer learning.

10:03

🚫 The Pitfalls of Teacher Centered Classrooms

Paul illustrates the negative impact of teacher centered classrooms by describing a scenario where a teacher quickly reveals answers and explanations, preventing students from having the opportunity to think critically or collaborate. He argues that this approach stifles learning and limits students' ability to develop essential skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork. Paul emphasizes that teachers should resist the urge to control every aspect of the learning process and instead create an environment that encourages exploration, discussion, and the freedom to make mistakes. He concludes by reiterating the importance of teachers being mentors and facilitators, rather than the sole source of knowledge in the classroom.

Keywords

💡Student Centered Learning

Student centered learning is an educational approach where the focus is on the students doing the work, rather than the teacher. It emphasizes the importance of students being actively engaged in their own learning process. In the video, this concept is central as it contrasts with teacher-centered classes where the teacher does most of the talking and imposes ideas on the students. The script highlights that in a student-centered classroom, the teacher has minimal air time, and the students are in control of their learning.

💡Teacher Centered

Teacher centered refers to a traditional classroom setup where the teacher is the primary source of information and does most of the talking. In the video, Paul criticizes this approach by pointing out that it limits student engagement and learning. He mentions that in a teacher-centered class, the teacher interrupts students, corrects their viewpoints, and imposes their own beliefs, which is contrary to the student-centered learning philosophy.

💡Relevance

Relevance in the context of the video refers to the connection between the content of the class and the students' lives. Paul argues that for learning to be student centered, the content must be relevant to the students, making it more engaging and meaningful. This is crucial in the video's message as it underscores the importance of making education personally significant to students, rather than just academic.

💡Project Based Learning

Project based learning is a method of teaching where students are in charge of their projects, learning through hands-on activities and real-world applications. In the video, Paul suggests that this is an effective way to implement student-centered learning as it allows students to take control, explore, and learn from their own initiatives. It is highlighted as a key strategy in moving away from teacher-centered practices.

💡Communication

Communication in the video is a critical skill that students develop in a student-centered environment. It involves both verbal and written forms, as students work in groups, give presentations, and engage in peer teaching. Paul emphasizes the complexity of this process, noting that it is a significant departure from the more passive listening that occurs in teacher-centered classes.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information, which is essential in a student-centered learning environment. The video script mentions that students need to research, sort through facts, and use critical thinking to decide what is accurate and unbiased. This skill is crucial for forming informed opinions and is a key component of the learning process in student-centered classrooms.

💡Teamwork

Teamwork is a key aspect of student-centered learning as it involves collaboration and cooperation among students working on group projects. The video discusses the importance of organizing teams, assigning roles, and managing time effectively. Paul highlights that teamwork is not just about completing a project but also about learning how to work with others, which is a valuable life skill.

💡Mentor

In the video, the role of a teacher is described as that of a mentor, guiding and supporting students rather than dominating the classroom. Paul emphasizes that teachers should provide minimal information to help students understand concepts and then allow them to explore and learn independently. The mentor's role is to observe, facilitate, and guide, rather than to control the learning process.

💡Self-Evaluation

Self-evaluation is a process where students reflect on their own work and learning, which is crucial in a student-centered environment. The video mentions that students should evaluate their projects, identify what went wrong, and learn from their mistakes. This self-reflective practice is essential for personal growth and understanding, as it allows students to take ownership of their learning.

💡Control

Control in the context of the video refers to the degree to which teachers manage and direct the learning process. Paul argues that teachers often need to let go of control and allow students to take charge of their learning. This is a significant shift from traditional teacher-centered classrooms where teachers maintain tight control over what is taught and how it is taught.

💡Collaboration

Collaboration is a key component of student-centered learning, as it involves students working together to achieve a common goal. The video script discusses the importance of students collaborating on projects, sharing ideas, and learning from each other. This collaborative approach is contrasted with the more individualistic approach often found in teacher-centered classes.

Highlights

Student-centered learning is often misunderstood and requires assessing who is doing the work in the classroom.

If the teacher does all the talking, it's a teacher-centered class, not student-centered.

Content relevance to students' lives is crucial for making learning student-centered.

In student-centered classrooms, teachers have minimal airtime, emphasizing student participation.

Project-based learning is an effective method to implement student-centered learning.

Signs of a teacher-centered class include the teacher doing all the work and talking.

Teachers may inadvertently impose their views on students in a teacher-centered class.

Student-centered learning allows for the expression of opposing views and open-mindedness.

Students in student-centered classes engage in complex communication, presentations, and peer teaching.

Research and critical thinking are key components of student-centered learning.

Student-centered learning develops computer skills and teamwork through group projects.

Time management and organization are essential in student-centered projects.

Students learn by doing and making mistakes in a student-centered environment.

The teacher's role in student-centered learning is to act as a mentor and guide.

Teachers should observe and facilitate rather than dominate the classroom.

Student-centered learning encourages peer teaching and respecting the abilities of classmates.

Cultural change is needed to embrace peer learning and let go of pride.

The importance of teaching life skills and social skills alongside academic subjects.

Student-centered learning has been around for decades but is not widely implemented.

Teachers need to reflect on their teaching methods and let go of control to empower students.

A chaotic classroom can be beneficial for learning from mistakes and disagreements.

The role of a teacher is to guide and mentor, not to dominate the learning process.

An example of a poor student-centered class where the teacher cannot resist providing answers immediately.

The importance of allowing students the opportunity to try and learn from their efforts.

A great teacher facilitates learning rather than simply delivering information.

Transcripts

Hi, this is Paul from Pear Tree Education.

Today's video is about student centered learning.

Like many aspects of 21st century learning,

student centered learning is fairly misunderstood.

To judge whether a class is student centered, you first and foremost

have to ask yourself: “Who's doing all the work in the classroom?”

The teacher or the student?

If it's the teacher, then the class is teacher centered.

While the content of the class is extremely important to student centered

learning, in that if the content is relevant to the student's lives,

that makes it student centered.

The problem is, if it's all about the teacher

doing all the talking and basically imposing ideas upon the students,

then it's definitely not student centered learning.

In fact, in the student centered classroom, the teacher has very little air time.

How many teachers out there have you seen that basically feed off

their students hanging on and listening attentively to their every word?

While it's fantastic for students to admire their teachers,

ultimately student centered learning is about the students doing all of the work.

After all, learning is about doing.

So, in order for your students to learn,

they have to be doing the work, not the teacher.

We need to get away from this teacher telling that kids just how things are

or imposing their views upon the students and allowing the students to actually

have the freedom to discover things for themselves.

In a nutshell, project based learning is the best way to implement

student centered learning

because the students are in control of the project,

and I'm going to come back to that later on.

But firstly, just to kind of indicate what are the signs of a teacher centered class?

Well, as I said, in a teacher centered class, the teacher's doing all of the work.

They're doing all of the talking.

Even if the students say something, the teacher will frequently interrupt the student

or finish what they're saying, or perhaps even correct their point of view.

And actually point out what that student’s doing wrong

because those views conflict with the teacher's own.

The teacher may give good marks on papers where the students are agreeing

with what the teacher believes

and bad marks to the students who have an opposing view to the teacher

regardless of the quality of the writing.

Ultimately, it's quite hard to avoid teacher centered classes

because it's human nature to teach what you believe to be important.

And as a result, classes are highly politicized.

They will contain information that essentially imposes views upon

the students about what is right

and what is wrong, what is important, what's not important.

And so you can't sanitize a class.

You can't eliminate that because everything is politicized.

But at the same time, you can't be a hypocrite.

You can't ask your students to be open minded, when you yourself are highly judgmental.

You have to give room in your class for students to have views that oppose yours.

So if students are doing all of the work and they're working in groups on projects,

what are the things that they could be carrying out

that they wouldn't ordinary in a teacher centered class?

Well, firstly there's clearly more student talking time;

the communication process is highly complex,

because they're working in pairs, they're working in groups,

they're communicating verbally and in written form.

They give presentations,

so there's a public speaking element to the class.

They're doing peer teaching or even teaching a whole class.

They have to defend an opinion, because that opinion is going to differ

from other people.

They may have to negotiate because they're working in groups.

And when you come in with a group idea, you have to be able to make compromises

and also defend your position where you believe so strongly

that something should be included or things should be done a certain way.

There's a huge element of researching involved, rather than the teacher

presenting you with all the facts.

You have to be the one that goes out and finds those facts.

Then you have to sort through them,

use critical thinking to decide

what facts are accurate, which facts are inaccurate or biased.

You have to be able to amalgamate that data.

You have to be able to form informed opinions

based on the data that you've found. All of the researching,

communicating online, and using computers for presentations and for your papers...

These are developing computer skills

that perhaps you wouldn't ordinarily have had so much use for.

There's clearly a huge amount of teamwork involved when you're working on group projects.

There's problem solving;

there's organization and planning involved.

You don't just go ahead and do the project.

You have to essentially organize your team, who's going to play, what role,

and also what are the stages of the project

that you're going to go through and what are the timings for those projects?

So, there's time management involved as well.

I mentioned on a previous video about student collaboration

how in, for example, Lit Circle classes, students play different roles

and this is no different from any classroom.

It just...

the roles may change somewhat depending on what the content of the class is.

So in a Lit Circle class

you can have things like Character Captains and Culture Connectors

where that wouldn't be very relevant in other classes.

So, essentially you have these roles that may be set roles

that the teacher has already created, or the students

may just invent roles themselves based on the need of the group.

The greatest thing about student centered learning is that students have the chance to learn by doing;

and, more than this, they have the chance to learn by making mistakes.

They're not given facts.

They're not being told, this is how it is...

Now, write about that.

They basically have to go out there and find out for themselves.

They have to create projects that may ultimately be failures,

but they learn by going through that process.

They learn by making mistakes in their groups on how not to work in a team

and then find out, Well, you know, we shouldn't have done that.

You have to go through this kind of evaluation process of self-evaluation

at the end of every project.

Now, of course, we can't escape the fact that the teachers in the room,

the teachers role, as I mentioned on other videos, is there to act as a mentor.

There is obviously instructional work that needs to be done by a teacher.

It just shouldn't take up entire classes for week upon week.

The teachers there essentially to present the minimal information

just to get the students to understand something

and then get them working, get them doing something.

And so much of what teachers do at the moment in the classroom

could be done by the students.

It's just that the teachers just can't let go of control.

They feel like they have to be constantly at the front of the class.

Even when the students are at the front of the class,

the teachers up there with them.

Why?

The teachers shouldn't be anywhere near them,

because essentially they're sharing the limelight that the students should be receiving.

It's almost like the students don't belong in the front of the class.

That's the teacher's position, which is complete nonsense.

In my classes,

I make a point of actually sitting down with the rest of the students

while the other students are up there presenting.

Because I'm not more important than the students are.

If someone's up in the front of the class, I'm just going to sit down with the rest

of my students - that's where I belong, because I'm a member of the audience.

Our jobs as teachers are to observe our students,

watch how they interact,

watch how they carry out research, watch how they organize and plan their projects,

how they organize their teams and look for weaknesses in those things

look for strengths in members of the team who are able to carry out those things

of basically delegating to people, leading the group,

and also bringing out the best in others, and then point that out to them

and the rest of the students that that person has that ability,

But then, teach the other students how to do that - or, better still,

get the person that's good at it to teach their peers!

Now, coming from a British background myself,

I know how begrudged other students would be by this right now;

the idea that someone from their peer group has the nerve

to tell them how to do things.

But this is the thing of our culture that we have to change.

We have to be able to let go of our pride and to be able to accept the abilities

of other people in order to learn, in order to better ourselves.

We're all too ready to look up to adults and adore them and essentially worship

the ground they walk on and listen to their every word as if it's God's law.

But then our classmates may say something actually more accurate

than the teacher does, and we just dismiss that point of view

because we don't believe that they can be any better than we can.

I've seen this time and again in ESL classes where people younger than them,

or of the same age or of a different gender,

and they'll just dismiss what they have to say.

I’ll ask them to work with that person,

and they'll just look at me and just carry on working independently,

because they have no respect for their peers!

And this is the thing I'm working on.

I'm just thinking to myself: Well, I don't care how good your work is,

if you're incapable of working with another human being,

that's the thing that's going to affect you in life,

and that's the thing I'm going to be working on.

I may be here to teach you a subject, but that's not all I'm here for.

I'm here to teach you life skills.

I'm here to teach you social skills.

I'm here to teach you how to be successful in life.

And it certainly isn't

about being independent or being disrespectful to other people.

Student centered learning is by no means a new topic.

It's been around for decades, this this whole concept.

And yet when you look at the average classroom, this is just not taking place,

mostly because of the way the curriculum is designed, but also just

because teachers were educated in a teacher centered classroom.

And this just perpetuates the problem that you end up teaching exactly like you were taught.

At some point, this has to change.

Some teachers that are currently teacher centered have to reflect on this

and just let go of control.

They have to give control over to the students,

give them the air time, set them challenges at the beginning of the class,

and just let them get on with it.

Don't interfere...

Apart from when things are absolutely, out of control,

but, a little bit of chaos in the classroom is actually a good thing.

A lot can be learned from making those mistakes,

from arguments, from people who disagree with each other,

from people who just blatantly make a mistake, just going about things the wrong way.

They will learn from making those mistakes,

and if they don't, after they finished, then you can get them to reflect on that,

and then perhaps guide them on that.

That's your job as a teacher, to be a mentor.

To finish, I'd like to give you an example of a really bad class,

one that is extremely student centered.

After ten or 20 minutes of explaining the topic and giving multiple examples,

she finally said: “Okay, guys, now try this example.

See how you get on.”

5 seconds pass. “Okay, here's the answer!

Now, don't look if you don't want to see how it's done,

if you haven't finished, you can just look away.

But let me explain how it's done.

It's done like this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Okay, here's another example. Try this one.”

5 seconds pass.

“Okay, here's the answer.

Oh, let me explain to you how it's done.

If you haven't finished, don't listen. But I'm going to explain to you.”

The teacher just can't contain herself!

She cannot possibly stay quiet for more than 5 seconds

without needing to basically explain to the class the answer!

In such a learning environment, there is no learning going on,

because the teacher is doing all of the work, has all of the air time,

and the students don't even have the opportunity to try.

Can you imagine how infuriating it is for the student

not to be given the chance to even try to answer the question?

They're not given the opportunity to work together,

so there's no collaborate thing going on at all.

And worse than that, even if they had the right answer,

they're not allowed to come up to the board

and actually give the answer and then explain how it's done.

Every single answer is done by the teacher, which is just ludicrous.

There is no learning there.

So to wrap up, I would like to leave you with this lasting thought.

The teacher may be able to teach great, but he or she isn't a great teacher.

That's all for today's video.

If you've enjoyed the video, I really appreciate a rating.

And if you haven't already done so, you can subscribe above.

The next video about 21st century learning that I'll be doing is about creativity,

and so you're going to hear a lot of references to Ken Robinson.

This is Paul from Pear Tree Education.

Thanks for watching!