Following yesterday’s blog, here are the four last principles of learner-centered teaching:
4. Teacher facilitators model how skillful learners approach learning tasks. Example: When solving a problem, the teacher says out loud what is going through his/her mind. The teacher recounts what it was like when he/she solved this kidn of problem expressing his/her frustration and difficulties. Students experience such “being a student” by the teacher as encouraging.
5. Teacher encourage student to learn from and with each other. Example: Students get the option to become part of an “exam group”. Each group prepares some review materials for the rest of the class; the group can also decide to spend time together to study and prepare for the exam. On exam day, each student makes the exam and hands it in for a grade. Then they convene as a group and do the same exam together and hand it in. If the group score is higher than the individual average, the difference gets added to each individual score.
6. Teacher and students work together to create climates for learning. Students start accepting some of the responsibility for what happens in class. The teacher cannot make students learn. Only students can. Given the right “climate”, students start to accept the responsibility for learning.
7. Teachers use evaluation to promote learning. Example: Teachers can provide feedback on students exam results and design follow-up activities. Or students assess the exams of their peers. This incrreases the likelihood that students will learn form the experience and be able to improve as a consequence of it.