Learner-Centered Instruction: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

Student-centered instruction has some connections with the social constructivist view, which emphasizes activity and the importance of communities of practice in the learning process. While learner-centered instruction is well advocated in education, traditional teacher-centered education may still be dominant. This preference might result from the lack of interest on the part of teacher to share his/her power. The paper, having provided a philosophical basis of learner-centered instruction, studied the role of learner-centered instruction in achieving democratic ends. By drawing on the concept of power, authority and democracy, the authors had an attempt to make a distinction between various types of instruction, specifically learner-centered in which the teacher consciously or unconsciously tends to share his power, and letting students have a voice in the future of education will help learners construct their view of the world. Also, the authors elucidated the concept of cooperative learning as an inevitable grounding feature of learner-centered instruction. The author claimed that placing the control of class in the pupils’ hands does not result in the absence of authority on the part of the teacher.

Keywords: power, constructivism, democracy, cooperative learning