Student-Centred

Learning in ELT
‘
George M. Jacobs and Willy A. Renandya

Presenter:
Agus Rahman
 Meanings and Elements of Student
Centred Learning

• What is student-centred learning?

• According to Felder and Brent (1996, p. 43), it is “a broad teaching

approach that includes substituting active learning for lectures,
holding students responsible for their learning, and using self paced
and/or cooperative (team-based) learning.”

• Other names for SCL are Learner Centred Teaching, Active Learning,
Person Centred Learning and Child Centred Teaching
Roots of Student Centred Learning
• Progressive Education
It was promoted by Dewey (1929) which emphasizes learning by
doing, interacting with the worlds in which students live in the
present day, cooperating with classmates and with others beyond
the classroom, and using learning to improve the lives of others. It
is an experiential learning.
• Humanistic Psychology
The leading scholar for this theory is Rogers (e.g., Rogers et al.
2013), which emphasizes not just cognition but also affect, such as
attitudes, self-esteem and motivation, which looks for what is
unique in each situation and each individual and which strives for
intrinsic motivation, i.e., motivation from inside students. Educating
the “whole person” by taking his interest, goal, enthusiasm into
account, so that full potential can be achieved to be well-being
human.
• Constructivist Theory (Piaget 1954)
Constructivism derives its name from the belief that learners
internally construct their own knowledge (from previous
knowledge), rather than passively receiving it. The process of
knowledge construction is an active one based on learners taking
information from teachers, course materials, the internet and other
sources and making it their own, by such means as explaining,
debating, role playing, creating visuals, comparing and connecting.

• Socio-Cultural Theory (Vygotsky 1978)

A key concept in Socio-Cultural Theory is scaffolding, i.e., the
learning students gain via interaction with teachers, (advanced)
peers and others. This theory has much in common with
Constructivism, including that they both emphasize what has been
called Social Constructivism, i.e., constructing knowledge in a
process of learning from and with others.
 Linking Ten Elements of SCL with Second
Language Pedagogy
1. Students and Teachers as Co-learners
Teachers acknowledge that they do not know everything like their students. So,
teachers become students’ partner as they learn together.
2. Student-Student Interaction
Students work collaboratively with their mates, while teachers are acting as guides
by monitoring students’ activities and intervening to praise, correct, question,
share, and motivate.
3. Learner Autonomy
Benson defined it as “a capacity to control important aspects of one’s learning”
(2013, p. 852). Students, with guidance from family, teachers, peers and others,
take increasingly greater control of their own learning, in preparation for becoming
lifelong learners. Internet resources, such as online dictionaries, facilitate learner
autonomy.
4. Focus on Meaning
Students understand why they are learning, what they are learning, or why the
content is being taught in one particular way. Students have an understanding of
the big picture of their learning.
5. Curricular Integration
This links closely to one of SCL’s roots, Progressivism that argues strong ties
between the curriculum and the wider world. For example, language instruction
can follow a content based approach, with students listening, speaking, reading
and writing on topics from their future or current studies, their future careers or
global issue, etc.
6. Diversity
SCL involves teachers being aware of and appreciating this diversity among
students, so that all students have equal opportunities to learn and to enjoy their
education. Furthermore, teachers can develop this diversity as a means of
broadening and deepening students’ learning experiences.
7. Thinking Skills
Students need to develop their thinking skills as they are responsible for managing
their own learning, they need to do more than following teachers’ orders, think for
themselves and able to deal with new situations. A short list of these skills includes
explaining, comparing, sequencing, categorizing, applying, creating, and
evaluating.
8. Alternative Assessment
Alternative assessment welcomes students to join in assessing the processes and
products of learning, as well as the affective side of learning, such as students’
motivations, attitudes, and self-esteem as learners. Other terms that are similar to
alternative assessment are assessment for learning, authentic assessment, holistic
assessment, and integrative assessment.
9. Learning Climate
Building conducive learning climates like feeling safe , being part of a learning
community in which everyone is supported, feeling respected by others, and
having the opportunity to develop their unique selves.
10. Motivation
SCL seeks to build intrinsic motivation, i.e., motivation that comes from within
students, with students doing tasks not only as a means to an end but also for the
enjoyment of the tasks themselves.