Week Five- Student-Centered Instruction

This week's discussion and reading focused on student-centered instruction.  In most of my education courses I have studied the positive outcomes of student-centered instruction.  The idea is that students find the content more accessible, interesting, and relevant when they are given the opportunity to discover it in independent environment.  Over the past few years, I have found to be this type of instruction to be beneficial.  Students are engaged and involved when "teaching" themselves.  In the article, Motivating Dialogue: When Seventh Graders Own their Learning through Discourse Analysis, the authors Dean, Goering, and Nutt highlight a study done with a seventh grade class.  The class is done using a student-centered instruction model.  The authors state the following, "An opportunity to create more dialogic teaching through discourse analysis held myriad benefits for the students of Room 173. Doing what researchers do not only helped the students see themselves in a different light, it also helped improve their participation in discussion of all varieties" (Dean, Goering, & Nutt, 23).  Having students engage more directly in the learning process gives the students a sense of ownership over their gained knowledge.  This study proved that students were able to grasp the content, but were able to do so with confidence.

   An advantage of student-centered  learning I have experienced is the opportunity to teach students to self-manage.  In my Pre-K class we have an hour block in our schedule for "work time," which is the free-play segment of our day.  It can be beyond noisy during this time, especially during the beginning of the year.  However, my para and I are able to guide and instruct students on how this time is to be used as the months pass.  By November, the students are able to work in an area independently or in a group as well as rotate to various activities throughout the room.  Teaching and upholding behavioral expectations and consequences is what positively effects classroom management.    
 
  There are different types of student-centered instruction models.  In our text, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, the author Slavin discusses one model,  "Discovery learning has several advantages. It arouses students’ curiosity, motivating them to continue to work until they find answers. Students also learn independent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, because they must analyze and manipulate information" (Slavin, 194).  The text goes on to mention that despite the advantages this type of instruction may have, there is a need for some structure.  There can be a lot of wasted time if students do not remain on task.  For this reason,  I think a balance of student-centered and teacher-centered activities should be integrated throughout the day.  Also during student-driven activities the teacher must remain a proactive facilitator.

  After reading and discussing this topic I have come to realize that learning and discovery is mainly done by the students; while the teacher will be responsible for keeping students focused, on task, and moving toward the learning goals.  In the future I will create more opportunities throughout the day to allow students to have more involvement in their own learning; through discovery, discussion, and hands-on experimentation.    

References

Dean, J. S., Goering, C. Z., & Nutt, T. (2016). Motivating dialogue: When seventh graders own their learning through discourse analysis. Voices from the Middle, 23(4), 19-24. Retrieved from http://library.valdosta.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1788221335?accountid=14800

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. New Jersey: Pearson.