Report Flow

Ms. Marlyn D. Panopio

Ms. Heartlyn D. Palaya
Ms. Jade H. Lacerna

A. Preparation
1. Prayer
2. Greetings
3. Motivation
4. Prior knowledge about the lesson (Objectives and Goals).
5. Energizer (Arranging Jumbled Words)

B. Presentation
(Discussion proper)

MODULE 1
1.1 An Introduction to Learner-Centered Teaching

a. Definition

What is Learner-Centered Teaching?

 It is about inverting the traditional teacher-centered process.

 Understanding of the learning process and putting students at the center of the
learning process.
 Shift the focus of the activity from the teacher to the learners.
 Emphasizes what the learners do and not what the teacher does.
 Focuses on skills and practices in a lifelong learning, creative thinking and
independent problem-solving.
 Insist the learners to actively construct their own knowledge.

Learner-centered teaching, often referred to as student-centered teaching, refers to

an approach that focuses on what students are doing, rather than what the instructor is
doing.
 An approach to teaching that focuses on the learners and their development rather
than on the transmission of content; it addresses the balance of power in teaching and
learning, moves toward learners actively constructing their own knowledge, and puts the
responsibility for learning on the learners.

Why implement a learner-centered teaching?

 There is a need to produce learners who are critical thinkers, problem solvers
and creative.
 There is a knowledge explosion, thus, a need to make sense of it, not memorize
it.
 It can improve student engagement and ownership of learning.

Learner-centered education empowers the students to take ownership of what

they learn by focusing on how the new knowledge solves a problem or adds
value. Instead of simply pouring information over the child's mind, the facilitator
presents the student with an issue and guides the class as they build a solution.

A learner-centered approach views learners as active agents. They bring their

own knowledge, past experiences, education, and ideas – and this impacts how they
take on board new information and learn. It differs significantly from a traditional
instructor-centered approach.

Learner-centered teaching can lead to:

 Increase student engagement with the content

 Deep learning
 Long term retention
 Acquisition of critical thinking or creative problem-solving skills
 Positive attitude toward the subject being taught
 Confidence in knowledge or skills

b. Characteristics of learner-centered teaching

1. Teaching and learning is personalized.

 It gives interest, aspirations to individual students.
  Teachers have the option of structuring the learning environment that suits
them and their students.
 Teachers make the optimal use of the facilities available to them. ‘
2. They have learn the knowledge and skills
3. Students have the flexibility to learn.
4. Learners learn “Anytime” and “Anywhere”.
 Students give opportunities to their own way.
5. Students need to have a clear idea.
6. Instructions must be easy to understand and comprehensive.
 When students evaluate their own work it will help them mastery over the
subjects.
 Students working in group they involved more in activities because there are
opportunities for discussion and assisting peer students.
7. Students can work on various activities to their own needs and interests.
8. Learning centered adaptable instructional tool.

According to Weimer (2002), “Being learner-centered focuses attention squarely on

learning: what the student is learning, how the student is learning, the conditions under
which the student is learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning,
and how current learning positions the student for future learning.”

Weimer offers the following characteristics of learner-centered teaching;

1. Learner-centered teaching engages students in the hard, messy work of

learning. On any given day, in most classes teachers are working much harder than
students.
2. Learner-centered teaching includes explicit skill instruction. Learner-centered
teachers teach students how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze
arguments, and generate hypotheses -- all those learning skills essential to
mastering material in the discipline.
3. Learner-centered teaching encourages students to reflect on what they are
learning and how they are learning it. They challenge student assumptions about
learning and encourage them to accept responsibility for decisions they make about
learning; like how they study for exams, when they do assigned reading, whether
they revise their writing or check their answers.
4. Learner-centered teaching motivates students by giving them some control over
learning processes. Learner-centered teachers search out ethically responsible
ways to share power with students.
5. Learner-centered teaching encourages collaboration. Learner-centered teachers
work to develop structures that promote shared commitments to learning.
c. Benefits of Learner-Centered Teaching
 Permits opportunities to connect the content to real life
 Provides opportunities for higher order thinking as opposed to passive
listening
 Promotes greater student-faculty and student-student interaction
 Increases student retention
 Improve student’s self esteem
 Provides for improvement of social interaction skills, greater acceptance of
others, and a greater sense of “community” in the class
 Encourages alternative forms of assessment
 Encourages innovation in both teaching and student involvement.

d. Learner-centered teaching VS teacher-centered teaching

Elements Teacher-Centered Learner-Centered

Knowledge Transmitted from the lecture Constructed by learners
Student passive Active
Participation
Role of the Leader/authority Facilitator/ partner in learning
teacher
Assessment Few tests, mainly for grading Many tests, for feedback
Emphasis Learning correct answers Developing deeper
understanding
Assessment One-dimensional Multi-dimensional
Academic Competitive Collaborative-supportive
Culture
1.2. Learner-Centered Teaching Approaches

Learner-centered teaching is an approach that places the learner at the center of

the learning.

Why does Learner-Centered Teaching Approaches important?

 To encourage them to be active and responsible participants in their own learning.

Here’s is a comparison of what Learner-centered and Teacher-centered might include:

Learner-Centered Teacher-Centered

The focus is on both the learners and the The focus is on the tutor who is the
tutor expert.

The focus is on how the learners will use The focus is on what the tutor knows
the skills or content. about the skills or content.

Tutor models. Learners interact with the Tutor talks. Learners listen.
tutor and each other.

Learners work in pairs, groups, or alone Learners work alone.

depending on the task.

Implementation of learner centered approach

The learner centre approach is a strategy that includes active learning,
cooperative learning, and inductive learning. In active learning, learners solve problems,
answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or
brainstorm during teaching/learning sessions. In cooperative learning learners work in
teams on problems and projects under conditions that assure both positive
interdependence and individual accountability. In inductive teaching and learning
learners are first presented with challenges (questions or problems) and learn the
course material in the context of addressing these challenges. Inductive methods
include inquiry-based learning, case-based instruction, problem-based learning, project-
based learning, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching.
This strategy was implemented during training sessions and workshops
organized for teaching staff within the project.
In this way we tried to achieve the desired learning outcomes of the continuous
professional development programme:
Two types of tasks were proposed to learners:
1. To construct some learning outcomes based on own experience and to design
a course structure at learner choice with learning activities, assessment tasks and
course topics;
2. To analyze the proposed examples of courses written in terms of objectives
and poor defined learning outcomes and to redesign them in accordance with the
student centered approach requirements.

The teachers were asked to create a context where the students are motivated to
learn; this included providing content and resources and organizing constructivist
learning activities. Teachers used methods from the cognitive and the social
constructivism theories, and tried to implement individual learning methods such as
discovery learning, and social interactive activities to develop peer collaboration.
Debates were organized in the classrooms during face to face (f2f) sessions and
workshops about the provision of means for learners to experience real world or
meaningful practices.

THE GENERAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO APPROACHES

Of the two approaches, there are a number of ways in which they differ, each with its
own strengths and weaknesses (Weinstein, Tomlinson-Clarke, & Curran, 2003). First, there is a
difference in the two on how the student works. Considering the teacher-centered approach,
the students do their work alone where they do exercises related to the teacher’s presentation
during or after the lesson while on the other hand, in the student-centered approach, the
students work together in groups or pairs as per the demand and purpose of the activity. This
way, teaching and learning becomes an enjoyable and friendly active and rewarding activity
hence making it easier for the students to understand the lesson since they are actively
involved in the learning.
Secondly, the teacher-centered approach portrays students as basically passive while
the teachers are active since teachers are the main focus in this approach which is considered
sensible since the teachers are familiar with the language which the students are not. In this
case, the students are less engaged during the learning process. However, with the student –
centered approach, the teacher and the student are both active participants since they share
the learning responsibility of the learner, helping to identify how the students should use the
language.

Another considerable difference of the two approaches is that of the classroom

situation where in the teacher –centered approach, there is little or no noise in the class. This is
due to the fact that since it is the teacher who passes on the information, the students will
automatically be quiet in order to grab the necessary knowledge of the language from the
teacher. On the contrary, in the learner-centered approach the class situation is busy and noisy
since it is mainly in groups and discussions (Jeanne, 2009). In this approach, the teacher is
compelled to be comfortable with the fact that the students are more likely to make mistakes
that he/she may not hear and correct. The teacher-centered approach focuses on desires and,
where the teachers support them. Considering this, there is a difference on the beginning of
analysis and emphasis in supporting learning
In the teacher-centered approach, there is separation of the process of teaching from
that of assessing or testing. In this approach, teaching occurs first then assessment comes later
as a way of finding out whether the students grabbed the knowledge passed on to them by the
teachers. Unlike the teacher-centered approach, the student-centered approach has both the
teaching and assessment being done together. As teaching continues, the students do exercises
in pairs or groups.
When it comes to assessments, the teacher-centered approach uses assessments to
monitor the student’s learning (Hayo, 2007). This way, the teachers are able to discover the
weaknesses of the students or areas they did not understand in the course of learning and are
therefore able to find a way of bringing the point home. This is different from the student-
centered approach, where the assessments play the role of diagnosing and promoting learning
among the students.
The two approaches differ in the way they test the desired learning with the learners. In
the teacher-centered learning approach, the desired learning is tested indirectly by use of
objectivity scored exams, while in the student-centered learning approach; the desired learning
is directly tested through portfolios, performances, papers, and projects (Good & Brophy,
2003).

The Responsibility of the Students in the Two Learning Approaches

Just like teachers, the students also have a number of responsibilities in learning and
learning strategies in the two approaches (Wolfgang, 2001). Since students are more involved
in the student-centered approach, they have the responsibility of taking leadership in their
classes may it be in the groups they form or the class as a whole. Students ensure that they
effectively carry out their responsibility in class such as reading, doing their homework as
expected, and testing their understanding. On the other hand, students in the teacher-centered
approach do not have to major in taking leadership of the class since the teacher takes a better
control of the class and whatever activities take place in the class.
Students in the student-centered approach have the responsibility to often develop
concepts, reasoning, and ideas on their own as they strain to tackle the tasks they have. To
achieve this, students have to learn to listen to one another and direct questions to the
teachers where they are not able to handle the task. Although they also have a responsibility in
the teacher-centered approach, students do not actually take it as their responsibility to
develop any concepts or ideas unless asked by the teacher to do so. This is because it is the
teacher’s responsibility to choose the concepts and decide what topics to teach the students.
In the teacher-centered approach, the students have the responsibility to obey and take
orders from their teachers who are the main instructors in the class. The teachers make all the
orders and decide when and which topics to teach to the students. Unlike in the teacher-
centered approach, the students in the student-centered approach do not have many orders to
take from their instructors since most of the activities are based on what the students plan
themselves. If anything, the teachers are just there to supervise what the students are doing
and give help where necessary.
The teacher challenges and supports the students at their accepted level in learning, in
the teacher-centered teaching approach. This entails making the topics that they have chosen
clear for the students. On the contrary, the students challenge and support one another in the
topics they have chosen to take in student-centered teaching approach. They pose queries to
other members of their groups so that those with the answers can help their classmates. Here,
the teacher is only there to help where it is very essential (Gabriel, 2004).
When it comes to answer giving, the teacher-centered teaching approach puts more
emphasis on the right answers. The student –centered approach of teaching is interdisciplinary
and does not mainly major on a single discipline. Unlike the student-centered approach, the
teacher-centered approach of teaching mainly emphasizes on a single discipline. It does not
have other disciplines within the main discipline or teaching other disciplines alongside the
discipline they have chosen to major on.
With the teacher-centered teaching approach, there is a culture of individualism and
competition among the students, where each student wants to emerge the best in the
competition. Whereas there is competing and individualism in the teacher-centered approach,
the students in the student-centered teaching approach support, collaborate, and co-operate
with one another in the learning. They help each other understand and be at par as a class.
 The student-centered approach mainly majors on teaching the students how to use and
communicate the knowledge they get effectively to handle and confront the emerging and
upcoming issues in the real-life situations.

In the teacher-centered teaching approach, the teacher solely takes the responsibility of
managing all the paper-work as well as organization of the classroom. This may at times entail
the formation of discussion groups and even the sitting arrangement. With the student-
centered teaching approach, it is the opposite since the students have the responsibility to
facilitate all the operations and activities taking place in the classroom.
In student-centered learning approach, all the students have a chance to be an integral
part in the management of the classroom. This is because the students work together and do
not consider any of them superior or inferior to another. Things are different with the teacher-
centered learning approach where the teacher chooses only a few students to help in the
management of the class, since it is the teacher who is the sole leader and makes all the
decisions affecting the class (Doyle, 2008).
In the student-centered approach, the teacher joins hands with the students in setting
the rules and making them effective. They do this as a compact or a constitution in order to
come into an agreement since this rules mostly affect the students and not the teachers. This
way, students are able to control the rules the teacher may put in the system especially if it
does not favor them in any way. In the student-centered approach, the responsibility of making
rules and regulations is only done by the teacher who then posts them to the students as a
group or a class.

Of the Two Teaching Approaches which is better and What Effect has it on the Student's
Proficiency?
There are a number of factors to consider before deciding which approach is the best to
use in teaching English as a foreign language (Ernesto, 2005; Diane, 2013). First, one has to
consider which of the two is more advantageous to both the teacher and the learner who is the
main beneficiary from the learning. To start with, the student-centered teaching approach has
advantages such as shared leadership where the students take the role of presenting their
assignments, writing, tests and they also facilitate their groups (Walters, 2011). The students
share responsibilities in the class. This may entail other responsibilities other than studies
although they also help one another in the studies too.
The students are actively involved since they work in groups to arrive at the desired
principles or results. They take part in communication hence developing their communicative
skills as they learn from their own mistakes. Another advantage is that both the teacher and the
students learn together. The students in the course of discussion engage their teachers and this
way, the two parties learn from each other. The teachers also get to learn from the students
and the activities they carry out.
In this approach, there is the aspect of collaborating, supporting, and co-operating with
one another where all the students get challenged as well as supported at their own level in
learning, an aspect that is very essential even in the society outside the classroom environment.
The students are self-motivated and enjoy the learning since it is an activity they are actively
engaged in and they choose the topics they are comfortable to take without any strain or
possibility of failure since they take what they can best understand.
According to Weimer (2013), this approach is based on multidisciplinary system where
the students do not only major on one topic and are therefore able to acquire more knowledge
in taking these studies. This way, the system supports inclusion of all kinds of students even
those with disabilities. Students assess themselves and can also get assessed by their
instructors for group-work, product, and process. This helps them realize their weaknesses and
know where to put more effort in the studies.
Just like the student-centered teaching approach, the teacher-centered approach also
has the positive side of it (Jeanne, 2009; Doyle, 2008). One is that the class is usually orderly
and quiet since the teacher is usually in full control of the class and the activities taking place in
the class. This is because the teachers understand the strengths and weaknesses of their
students better. Students learn independently without having to rely on their classmates, a
property that helps them to think critically and are able to make their own decisions.
In this approach, the students will rarely miss an important topic since it is the teacher
who plans what topics to teach and may be in a better position to know which topics are most
essential for the students. They receive expert knowledge since the teachers are trained on
whatever field they choose and therefore have well based knowledge to deliver to the
students.
After going through the advantages and disadvantages of the teacher-centered and the
student-centered teaching approaches, it is clear that the student-centered teaching approach
is more advantageous than the teacher-centered approach. The students tend to have an easier
time taking their studies in the student –centered teaching system especially because they have
the freedom to be their own leaders and learn from their mistakes.

CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it is worth mentioning that the two teaching approaches are
essential in any school curriculum since each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For a very
effective system of learning, the two approaches should be used together to achieve the best.
Teachers should also engage the students in the leadership of their class in order to create a
friendlier environment between the students and the teachers.
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