Student -Centered Pedagogy –Need of the Hour

John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer, advocated for progressive education and strongly believed that learning should happen thorough experiential process in which students learn by doing. He argued that classroom environment should encourage critical thinking and solving real world problems, and was the best way to prepare a learner for future which implicitly infers Student- Centric Pedagogy. According to Collins and O’ Brien, student-centred pedagogy is defined as an “Instructional approach in which student influence the content, activity, materials and the pace of learning.” In student- centred pedagogy, students are placed at the heart of the teaching- learning process (T-L Process). In this method, students are more active and participative and the T- L process turns acquisition of knowledge into a dialogue between teachers and students. Furthermore, students’ interests and objectives are taken into consideration and form the basis of the pedagogy. Interesting fact is that this type of pedagogy encourages debates, group discussions, critical thinking etc. between the stakeholders.

           Digressing a little, let us delve into the type of pedagogy that is being followed even today is our country to a large extent. It is teacher- centric pedagogy in which teacher occupies the central point and plays a major role in the T-L process with students taking the role of passive listeners. Teachers act as sources of information which may be, many times, monotonous resulting in students losing interest and finding it boring. Besides, teacher- centric learning or the traditional method encourages examination oriented rote learning instead of conceptual learning. Further, it promotes the culture of dependency. Also, it is not possible to have proper assessment of learning outcomes.

           On the contrary, in student-centric learning (SCL), teachers are no longer information or knowledge providers. They are only facilitators. SCL is known to create sustained interest.

 To drive home the point , it is worth sharing my personal experience in this regard. During one of my visits to USA, with  the efforts of my son, we were granted permission to visit government run Townewest Elementary School , Houston and interact with  the students of third grade.   We went there as a part of Junior Achievement Classes. When we entered the classroom, we were in for a surprise. The students were highly relaxed and each one was provided with a chair and a table instead of sitting on a row of desks as we find in our country. They were working on different projects based on their interests, someone working on mathematical models, another on a science project, third doing sketching and so on. The class teacher was only a facilitator. She was guiding the students and encouraging them to pursue their individual interests thus facilitating students own learning journey. Perhaps, this kind of classroom environment is a classic example of student- centred pedagogy.

Role of Teachers:

In student- centred learning, as mentioned earlier, teachers are no long information providers or instructors or content deliverers but are only facilitators. The teachers have to adopt educational scaffolding which plays a significant role in SCL and fosters independent thinking by the learners. It is often said that in SCL, teachers depart from being “content dispensers” to “content resources.” In SCL, teachers play the multiple roles of subject experts, mentors, guides and build strong and trusted relationships with students hailing from different cultural, social, economic and linguistic backgrounds to strengthen their confidence.

Merits of Student-Centric Learning

1. Makes students creators of their own education, encouraging them to take decisions  about what, when and how to learn.
2. Provides flexibility to learn “anytime, and anywhere.”
3. Make the learning process interesting and enjoyable.
4. Helps students to gain academic knowledge, learn skills of self-direction as well.
5. Develops curiosity and encourages collaborative learning.
6. Enables students to grow beyond the classroom.
7. Encourages students to think independently, to plan their own research and evaluate their own progress.
8. Teaches life skills like critical thinking, creativity, problem solving etc.
9. Promotes conceptual learning and deeper and clear understanding of subjects.
10. Provides opportunity for teachers to adopt innovative teaching methods.
11. Fosters inquiry based learning.
12. Prepares students for life.

Methods of Student- Centric Learning

The pedagogy adopted in SCL environment is designed keeping students at the focal point of the teaching process. Activating prior knowledge, connecting to the students’ experiences, adapting to their learning styles and catering to pace of learning of each student are the primary features of SCL.

Some of the methods which include both experiential and participative learning are

1. Interactive or question-answer sessions in classrooms, perhaps, similar to Socratic method. Socratic method is a dialogue between teacher and students provoked by asking probing questions continuously thereby shaping students’ views and understanding.
2. Brainstorming sessions.
3. Collaborative learning.
4. Peer learning.
5. Case study method.
6. Problem based learning.
7. Project based learning.
8. Practical sessions.
9. Debates, Quizzes.
10. Students’ Presentations/ seminars.
11. Jigsaw Technique.
12. Use of games.
13. Simulation.
14. Group discussions.
15. Flipped Classrooms.
16. Competitions.
17. Z to A Approach.

How to Make SCL Effective:

1. First and fore most is to bring in change  of attitude among teachers to accept the new role of  facilitators.
2. Encourage students to set their own goals.
3. Motivate  students to learn new material on their own.
4. Stimulate discussions/ interactions with students.
5. Encourage peer and collaborative learning.
6. Adopt experiential and participative learning methods in which students play active role.

                              In regard to assessment, student- centric learning necessitates more of formative assessment and less of summative assessment as compared to teacher –centric learning in which it is the other way. It is to be understood that formative assessment is for learning whereas summative assessment is of learning. SCL, characterized by innovative teaching methods, is the need of the hour at all levels of education. To our advantage, NEP 2020 also emphasizes on SCL, recommends to move away from rote learning and encourages conceptual learning.

       I Conclude with a Quote by Confucius,

                                         I hear and I Forget

                                         I See and I remember

                                         I do and I understand.