DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER

EDUCATION
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES
Telefax: 563-7527
Email: dte@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

Module 1: Learner-Centered
Teaching: Foundations and
Characteristics

Lesson 1.1: Learner-Centered Teaching

Lesson Summary
Allowing students to participate in decision-making, believing in their ability to lead, and
recalling how it feels to learn are all ways that teachers can promote student-centered learning.
Learner-centered teaching is a method of instruction that puts the learner at the center of the
process. This assumes that the learner or student is in charge of his own learning, and the tutor
is in charge of promoting it.

Learning Outcomes
1. Differentiate learner centered teaching from other teaching approaches as applied in
various teaching areas.

Motivation Question
How important is the application of learner-centered teaching? Is it really beneficial in
today’s situation and learning?

Discussion: Let’s Learn More

Learner-centered teaching principles have achieved widespread adoption across all levels
and disciplines of education over the last decade. Unfortunately, as the concepts have grown in
popularity, the definition of learner-centered teaching has become muddied and too simplistic.
Although techniques such as student engagement, active learning, and other practices that
include students in their own learning are important components of learner-centered teaching,
they do not encompass the entire philosophy of what it means to be a learner-centered teacher.
 DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER
EDUCATION
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES
Telefax: 563-7527
Email: dte@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

Learner-Centered Teaching: Definition and Characteristics (Weimer, 2012)

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

“I believe teachers are doing too many learning tasks for students. We ask the questions,
we call on students, we add detail to their answers. We offer the examples. We organize the
content. We do the preview and the review. On any given day, in most classes teachers are
working much harder than students. I’m not suggesting we never do these tasks, but I don’t
think students develop sophisticated learning skills without the chance to practice and in
most classrooms the teacher gets far more practice than the students.”

2. Learner-centered teaching includes explicit skill instruction.

“Learner-centered teachers teach students how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence,
analyze arguments, generate hypotheses—all those learning skills essential to mastering
material in the discipline. They do not assume that students pick up these skills on their
own, automatically. A few students do, but they tend to be the students most like us and
most students aren’t that way. Research consistently confirms that learning skills develop
faster if they are taught explicitly along with the content.”

Students not only need to develop an understanding of a discipline’s knowledge base

(content), but they also need to understand how that knowledge is organized and acquired
(learning skills). By learning how to solve problems, think critically, apply information, and
integrate knowledge, students can learn to think like experts in a discipline. In other words, they
not only need to learn content, but they also need to know how they can learn more, which is
critical in today’s environment where information is easily accessible and exponentially growing.
Teachers already possess these skills because they are experts within a discipline, so they often
overlook the importance of teaching them to students. Research, however, confirms that students
do not automatically learn these skills.

3. Learner-centered teaching encourages students to reflect on what they are learning and how
they are learning it.

“Learner-centered teachers talk about learning. In casual conversations, they ask students
what they are learning. In class they may talk about their own learning. 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. Learner-centered teachers
include assignment components in which students reflect, analyze and critique what they
are learning and how they are learning it. The goal is to make students aware of themselves
as learners and to make learning skills something students want to develop.”
 DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER
EDUCATION
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES
Telefax: 563-7527
Email: dte@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

Many of the guidelines for instructing students on how to acquire better learning skills are
also applicable for helping them reflect on how to take responsibility for changing their learning
strategies according to their needs.

4. Learner-centered teaching motivates students by giving them some control over learning
processes.

“I believe that teachers make too many of the decisions about learning for students.
Teachers decide what students should learn, how they learn it, the pace at which they learn,
the conditions under which they learn and then teachers determine whether students have
learned. Students aren’t in a position to decide what content should be included in the
course or which textbook is best, but when teachers make all the decisions, the motivation
to learn decreases and learners become dependent. Learner-centered teachers search out
ethically responsible ways to share power with students. They might give students some
choice about which assignments they complete. They might make classroom policies
something students can discuss. They might let students set assignment deadlines within
a given time window. They might ask students to help create assessment criteria.”
5. Learner-centered teaching encourages collaboration.

“It sees classrooms (online or face-to-face) as communities of learners. Learner-centered

teachers recognize, and research consistently confirms, that students can learn from, and
with, each other. Certainly the teacher has the expertise and an obligation to share it, but
teachers can learn from students as well. Learner-centered teachers work to develop
structures that promote shared commitments to learning. They see learning individually and
collectively as the most important goal of any educational experience.”

Dimensions of Learner-Centered Teaching

Learner-centered teaching dimensions are described by Blumberg (2009) and Weimer
(2013), who compared them with instructor-centered teaching dimensions.
Instructor-
Essential Learner-Centered
Dimensions Definition Centered
Component Approach
Approach
The Function of Content includes Level to which Instructor allows Instructor
Content building a knowledge students students to encourages
base, how the engage memorize content. students to
instructor and the content. transform and
students use the reflect on most the
content. content to make
their own meaning
out of it.
 DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER
EDUCATION
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES
Telefax: 563-7527
Email: dte@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

The Role of the An essential role of Instructors Instructor does not Instructor
Instructor the instructor is to uses teaching have specific intentionally uses
assist students to and learning learning goals various teaching
learn. methods and/or uses and learning
appropriate for teaching and methods that are
student learning methods appropriate for
learning goals. that conflict with student learning
learning goals. goals.
The Students should Responsibility Instructor assumes Instructor provides
Responsibility assume greater for learning all responsibility increasing
for Learning responsibility for their should rest for students opportunities for
own learning over with the learning (provides students to assume
time. students. content to responsibility for
memorize, does their own learning,
not require leading to
students to create achievement of
their own meaning stated learning
of content, tells objectives.
students exactly
what will be on
examinations).
The Purposes There are additional Formative Instructor uses Consistently
and Processes purposes and assessment only summative throughout the
of Assessment processes of (giving assessment (to learning process,
assessment beyond feedback to make decisions to instructor integrate
assigning grades. foster assign grades)
 Formative
improvement. Instructor provides assessment
students with no  Constructive
constructive
feedback
feedback
The Balance of The balance of power Flexibility of Instructor Instructor is flexible
Power shifts so that the course mandates all on most
instructor shares policies, policies and
 Course policies
some decisions assessment deadlines or does
 Assessment
about the course with methods, not mandate any.
methods
the students. learning
methods, and  Learning
deadlines. methods
 Deadlines
Instructor always
adheres to what
instructor has
agreed to with the
students.
DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER
EDUCATION
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES
Telefax: 563-7527
Email: dte@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph