Tecnologias De Educacion

Student-Centered Learning: Demystifying the Myth
C. Thamraksa
ABSTRACT
Teacher-centered or teacher-direct orientation
has long been the focus of education in Thailand.
This approach has placed an emphasis on rote
learning or memorization rather than developing the
thinking skills of learners. The drawback of the
system is seen through the passive and dependent
learners, who lack theskills to think critically and
creatively. Recognizing this major drawback, the
Ministry of Education has initiated a major reform of
the system—from the traditional teacher-centered to
a student-centered approach—with the intention of
producing competent, independent and life-long
learners who can keep pace with global competition.
However, due to the several changes that have
occurred as aresult of the implementation of this
student-centered approach, it leaves a number of
teachers perplexed about their roles and the teaching
pedagogy.
The issue of student- or child-centered learning
has seen an explosion of interest among educators
and school/college teachers in recent years. In fact,
the term was not much recognized until the Thai
National Education Act 1999 made it thekey concept
in the reform of education. This new approach, it is
hoped, will maximize the potential of Thai people to
cope with the increasing demands of the knowledgebased economy and the world of information and
communication technology.
Even with this interest, however, there arises
much confusion and mistrust of the pedagogical
movement behind the new model. Some teachers
view it as athreat to their long-time teacher-centered
or teacher-front orientation, while others fear that the
approach will lessen the significant role they play in
class, i.e., the imparter of knowledge. Likewise, some
students become sullen and hostile to this approach
as can be seen from the buzz remarks that were
recently reported in the newspapers that “the childcentered approach is like‘khwai’-centered approach.”
Such criticism clearly results from the failure, not of
the approach per se, but of the teachers’ misinterpretation and abuse of the concept.
Despite a substantial body of literature on
student-centered learning, the majority of teachers, it
can be said, are still skeptical of whether the
approach can really enhance student quality. Much
worse, teachers are uncertain of howand what they
should do to implement the approach. A number of
questions regarding the feasibility, viability and

applicability of this teaching model are raised widely
in the teaching community. As such, this paper will
attempt to clarify and analyze the principles and
aspects of student-centered learning through the most
frequently asked questions pertaining to this issue.
What isstudent-centered learning?
Simply put, student-centered learning is a model
wherein students are placed at the core of the
learning process. As such, students’ needs, opinions,
backgrounds, and goals are acknowledged and
incorporated within the learning environment. In this
model, teachers are guided by what is best for the
students when helping them to learn or make
decisions.
The concept ofstudent-centered learning
derives from several models. It first evolves out of
the constructivist learning theory which asserts that
knowledge is constructed uniquely and individually
in multiple ways (Vygotsky, 1978, cited in Bush &
Saye, 2000). It also derives from the experiential
model in which teaching is seen as transformation of
existing knowledge (Kohonen, 1992) and the activelearning model which suggests that all learning
activities involve some kind of experience or some
kind of dialog such as dialog with self and dialog
with others (Fink, 2002).
W hat are the characteristics of studentcentered learning?
On the basis of the modes from which it derives,
student-centeredness entails these characteristics:
The focus is on active learning, using
an integrated...