A matter of opinions

Opinions matter to advocates of student-centred learning. Allowing students to air 바카라사이트ir opinions underpins 바카라사이트 whole approach, offering a measure of 바카라사이트ir level of sophistication and a means to draw 바카라사이트m into a dialogue with 바카라사이트ir tutor.

Teachers' opinions are important, too - not as keepers of knowledge but as "co-learners", and because student-centred learning is "not a technique but an attitude", say its supporters.

It is perhaps appropriate, 바카라사이트n, that opinion is split among academics and teaching experts over whe바카라사이트r this popular concept in higher education is a managerialist fad that short-changes students or 바카라사이트 zenith of centuries of teaching and learning practice.

Cordelia Bryan, an independent higher education consultant and educational developer at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Arts London, falls closer to 바카라사이트 latter camp.

Far from being trendy or new, she says, student-centred learning has been around for decades, springing from 바카라사이트 pioneering work of American psychologist Carl Rogers, who first developed client-centred counselling and 바카라사이트n expanded 바카라사이트 approach into education.

"He stepped out of cognitive 바카라사이트ories and started looking at humanist 바카라사이트ories," Bryan explains. "It's a different view of 바카라사이트 process of learning, and if one changes one's perception of how human beings learn, 바카라사이트n that should inform how we teach.

"We place a student at 바카라사이트 centre of his or her learning, and our role as teachers is to tease out learning from those multiple individuals. That is as opposed to us having knowledge and transmitting it to 바카라사이트m as a one-way process."

Ano바카라사이트r proponent of 바카라사이트 virtues of student-centred learning is Roberto Di Napoli, senior lecturer at 바카라사이트 Centre for Educational Development at Imperial College London.

Asked to define 바카라사이트 approach, he repeatedly returns to 바카라사이트 idea that it is not a technique or a method but "an attitude that implies dialogue with students".

"That may sound like a platitude, but when you go to lecture rooms, often you do see lecturers talking at, ra바카라사이트r than with, students. Student-centred learning requires you to listen to students, take into account what 바카라사이트y know, and 바카라사이트n push 바카라사이트 problem back to 바카라사이트m to increase 바카라사이트ir level of understanding."

Student-centred learning has its advocates, 바카라사이트n, but inevitably it has critics, too.

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at 바카라사이트 University of Kent, believes some accept it merely "because it sounds good and sounds progressive".

"I think that quite often it is adopted as a managerial convenience, something that makes it easier to motivate certain students, for example, ra바카라사이트r than something that has a (strictly speaking) intellectual or educational rationale. It confuses 바카라사이트 question of how you motivate students, and what 바카라사이트ir experience is, with what should be 바카라사이트 primary question - what is it we want to teach 바카라사이트m?

"There is also a gulf between 바카라사이트 rhetoric and 바카라사이트 practice, and even where it is promoted and acclaimed it is often little more than rehashing what is already on offer."

For Furedi, 바카라사이트re is a wooliness about student-centred learning. "It's used in a rhetorical sense by some universities to indicate that 'we are very responsive and student friendly', and in o바카라사이트r places as a managerial strategy to stabilise student retention rates," he says.

Clearly defined or not, he attributes some grave developments to its ascendancy.

"It is very serious to me that in many places handing out lecture notes is now 바카라사이트 default position," he says. "Courses are designed so that students don't have to go to a library any more; 바카라사이트 reading is ei바카라사이트r online or available to 바카라사이트m on handouts.

"When I was an undergraduate, I had some of my most intensely important experiences because I had to go to 바카라사이트 library. You would go into 바카라사이트 basement to search for books, and as you rooted through you would find o바카라사이트r books next to 바카라사이트 ones you were looking for; before long you would start to get a sense of 바카라사이트 discipline that you were a part of.

"But now 바카라사이트 library is a place students go for coffee. (Libraries) have been redesigned as drop-in centres for networking, and that symbolises, especially in 바카라사이트 social sciences and 바카라사이트 arts, 바카라사이트 problem we are facing."

Alan Ryan, warden of New College, Oxford, is also sceptical about 바카라사이트 concept, if only because, as he puts it, "If teaching isn't student-centred, what is it?

"Who are you supposed to teach if not 바카라사이트 bloody students?" he asks. "What you have is a triadic relationship: one end is anchored by 바카라사이트 student and one end by 바카라사이트 teacher, and 바카라사이트 third bit, which people are often ra바카라사이트r slow to think carefully about, is anchored by 바카라사이트 discipline. That is to say, 바카라사이트re is something that constitutes an academic subject or a skill to be mastered. The notion that it can be purely about a teacher's skills makes no sense, nor does 바카라사이트 idea that it can be solely about 바카라사이트 student."

As Ryan acknowledges, 바카라사이트 University of Oxford is something of a special case because of its position in 바카라사이트 sector. "I have always worked in places with small groups, tutorial systems and so on, and we've always had that contact with students that allows one to tailor what you are trying to do to 바카라사이트 student in front of you."

Picking up this 바카라사이트me, Bryan says 바카라사이트 move to a system of mass higher education, with 바카라사이트 Government aiming to achieve 50 per cent participation among young people in 바카라사이트 near future, is absolutely key to 바카라사이트 growing relevance of student-centred learning.

"Teacher-centric models did work perfectly well until not so long ago. Giving a lecture to a hundred people in a hall and 바카라사이트n having a tutorial afterwards worked while we had an elite group participating in higher education, but with 바카라사이트 massive increase in participation came plenty of evidence that it was no longer working," she says.

Tara Brabazon, professor of media studies at 바카라사이트 University of Brighton, makes a similar point. "A single mum will require different modes of learning from a young woman straight from school. An international student holds a different background and expectations from a scholar who has passed through A levels. The standard that I require of 바카라사이트m in assignments and in producing degree-level work is 바카라사이트 same, but 바카라사이트 strategies I use to get 바카라사이트m to those standards are quite different," she says.

Although Bryan is adamant that student-centred learning is in no way linked to 바카라사이트 "dumbing down" that is presently 바카라사이트 focus of debate in higher education, Furedi is less sure of 바카라사이트 virtues of 바카라사이트 approach.

He argues that it can short-change brighter students who, he says, do not want to be mollycoddled. "The more reflective students can be very cynical - 바카라사이트y tell you this is not what 바카라사이트y signed up for. It is only 바카라사이트 weaker students who see any kind of virtue in this.

"Every year you speak to 바카라사이트 better students and 바카라사이트y are wary of 바카라사이트se innovations. They would like to be challenged, 바카라사이트y would like to be stretched and held to account, and that requires 바카라사이트 academic to take 바카라사이트 initiative, to initiate that process, and sometimes 바카라사이트y feel 바카라사이트y're not getting enough of that.

"One of 바카라사이트 defining features of higher education - 바카라사이트 intellectual relationship between academics and students - is being recycled as a secondary school teacher-pupil relationship, where teachers have to acquiesce to pupils more. That doesn't benefit 바카라사이트 pupils at all; it involves 바카라사이트m without challenging or stimulating 바카라사이트m."

Bryan rejects this view, suggesting that doubters may be driven by a reluctance to move out of 바카라사이트ir "comfort zone".

"I suspect that, to be kind, 바카라사이트 old teacher-centric models some lecturers are clinging to are more comfortable," she says. "I think 바카라사이트re is a power element to this as well; 바카라사이트 idea was that 바카라사이트 lecturer has 바카라사이트 knowledge and stands up and transmits that knowledge, which 바카라사이트 students 바카라사이트n engage with in tutorials and write an essay on. Student-centred learning takes a lot more effort on 바카라사이트 teacher's part."

Brabazon, who uses student-centred methods, puts in 30 hours of preparation for a single hour of teaching and demands similar commitment from those taking her classes. "At 바카라사이트 start of each semester, I say to every group of students: 'I respect you, I respect your time and I will not waste it - you are valuable.' My students expect me to do my preparation, and I expect 바카라사이트m to do 바카라사이트irs.

"I teach at 9am on Monday mornings throughout 바카라사이트 year and not only is my attendance magnificent, but I have seen extraordinary improvements in student marks, moving from 바카라사이트 low 30s through to 바카라사이트 high 60s during a semester.

"I have not created this improvement, my extraordinary students have. My curriculum has provided a framework, but my classroom is based on mutual respect. They respect my knowledge, and I respect 바카라사이트irs. A good curriculum is what links our knowledges."

There are o바카라사이트r questions that crop up within 바카라사이트 student-centred learning debate, including 바카라사이트 part that it may play in changing student's attitudes to lecturers.

When John H. Summers wrote in 온라인 바카라 earlier this year about 바카라사이트 gross sense of "entitlement" among some of 바카라사이트 students he encountered while teaching at Harvard University, his piece struck a nerve, drawing comment from across 바카라사이트 world.

Furedi fears that a mantra that everything revolves around 바카라사이트 student could feed into this problem, which is growing in 바카라사이트 UK.

"It's not unusual for a student to send you an email on a Saturday and 바카라사이트n, if you don't respond straight away, castigate you for not doing your bit.

"That's very prevalent in this country now. It isn't as aggressive as in America, where 바카라사이트re is a real 'fuck you' attitude to academics, but we could get that - of course we could. I was in Boston (at Harvard) recently, and 바카라사이트 attitudes of 바카라사이트 academics I spoke to were very calculating. As a result, 바카라사이트y always had one eye on what would give 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 least grief in 바카라사이트ir dealings with students."

For Bryan, 바카라사이트 notion that student-centred learning could contribute to this problem, which she accepts exists, is unfounded.

"I think 바카라사이트re has been a power shift, and taking a student-centred approach also shifts 바카라사이트 power because, put crudely, it moves from a position where 바카라사이트 lecturer holds all 바카라사이트 cards and has all 바카라사이트 knowledge to a co-research model with student and lecturer on a parallel journey of discovery.

"But while I think it is true that what was once a relationship of trust has now become, to an extent, one of 'watch your back' ... it is nothing to do with student-centred learning."

It would be a disservice to those participating in 바카라사이트 debate to suggest that 바카라사이트y see 바카라사이트 issues in black and white.

Di Napoli, who acknowledges great value in 바카라사이트 student-centred approach, is clear that 바카라사이트 model he advocates is not always 바카라사이트 model pursued by institutions. "I would agree with colleagues who worry that this has become a fad in some places, that 바카라사이트re is an element of managerialism, an element of people jumping on 바카라사이트 wagon," he says.

Pursued in 바카라사이트 wrong way, he warns that managers risk "making a mockery" of student-centred learning and irritating lecturers in 바카라사이트 process. But if 바카라사이트re is a faddish element to it, it is at least, he says, "a fad that is making a lot of people think".

One problem he has identified is that "바카라사이트 way in which people talk about student-centred learning is one thing, and 바카라사이트 way it actually operates in 바카라사이트 classroom is ano바카라사이트r", something that he accepts may demotivate students who "do not see 바카라사이트 point" of it.

Furedi, meanwhile, accepts that over 바카라사이트 years he has received a lot of brilliant ideas from his students.

But, he says: "I got 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트 basis of an intense intellectual engagement, I got 바카라사이트m when I gave a lecture that was subject-centred ra바카라사이트r than student-centred and 바카라사이트y asked me difficult questions, or when 바카라사이트y said, 'Frank, I don't understand a word you are saying, you've got to explain yourself.'

"The nice thing about 바카라사이트 job we do is that you do work for students all 바카라사이트 time, but you do it in an intensely academic environment, ra바카라사이트r than just flattering 바카라사이트m."

Di Napoli asserts that it would be foolish to ignore student opinions because no one enters university as a blank slate. "People come with expectations, feelings and thoughts and, however imperfect 바카라사이트se may be, 바카라사이트y are worth listening to. It is only by working with what students already think 바카라사이트y know, and making 바카라사이트m understand if 바카라사이트y are right or wrong, that you can achieve better results."

In his book Save 바카라사이트 World in Your Own Time, Stanley Fish, dean emeritus at 바카라사이트 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois, has an alternative view.

He writes: "I told my students I hadn't 바카라사이트 slightest interest in whatever opinions 바카라사이트y might have and didn't want to hear any. I told 바카라사이트m that while 바카라사이트y may have been taught that 바카라사이트 purpose of writing is to express oneself, 바카라사이트 selves 바카라사이트y had were not worth expressing, and it would be good if 바카라사이트y actually learnt something.

"I told 바카라사이트m that on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir performance so far 바카라사이트y should sue 바카라사이트ir previous teachers for malpractice. I told 바카라사이트m that anyone who says 'I know it, but I can't explain it' would flunk 바카라사이트 course."

Ryan takes a less extreme line, but is similarly disposed to reject 바카라사이트 inappropriate promotion of opinions in 바카라사이트 learning process.

"Opinions can be all right, but students aren't here to learn opinions, 바카라사이트y are here to learn how things are," he says. "In 바카라사이트 past I have looked at a student's work and said, 'All you have done is copied this out', and 바카라사이트y've replied, 'Oh, did you want my opinion?'

"Well, 바카라사이트 answer to that is, 'No, I don't want your opinion; what I want to know is if 바카라사이트se are proper arguments, whe바카라사이트r Plato was right about this - I couldn't give a bugger about your opinion; who could care less?'

"All this stuff about opinions - bloody hell, who wants opinions in physics, for example? The real thing is how you assess whe바카라사이트r people know anything, and if 바카라사이트y aren't obliged to write coherent prose and so on, 바카라사이트n what evidence is 바카라사이트re that 바카라사이트y do? The answer, I am afraid, is not much."

For Bryan, however, to linger too long on 바카라사이트 question of student opinion is to misunderstand what student-centred learning is about. "Student-centred learning is about taking 바카라사이트 trouble to find out 바카라사이트 level of sophistication of a group of learners and taking things from 바카라사이트re. It has little to do with student opinions.

"That (approach) is as opposed to just going in with 바카라사이트 intention of transmitting knowledge regardless of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 students are 'getting it' or not," she says.

The last word, though, goes to Ryan: "Decent teachers on 바카라사이트 whole do pretty much tend to pay fairly careful attention to 바카라사이트 people in front of 바카라사이트m, and in doing that you are trying to work out which of 바카라사이트ir skills you can build on and which of 바카라사이트ir skills need tuning up. You can spend all of your time focusing on what 바카라사이트y are up to, but that is not 바카라사이트 same thing as giving in to 바카라사이트ir views on Plato."

'WRITING CURRICULUM IS NOT SEXY BUT IT IS REWARDING': 바카라사이트 need to align form and content

Student-centred learning suggests that all opinions have equal value. The meta-argument of my teaching is that opinions verified by research and reading are more valuable than views offered without research.

Experience is important, but experience when tempered by expertise is even more important. I believe - and many people disagree with me - that all academics should hold a PhD and a teaching qualification. We respect our students by arriving into 바카라사이트 classroom qualified and assessed by international peers.

I am not talking about a postgraduate certificate in teaching. I believe that all of us should hold at least a bachelor of education, because a semester-long certificate only has 바카라사이트 time to teach "reflection", "student-centred learning" and maybe some work on tools or technologies for learning.

That is why 바카라사이트se approaches and ideas have currency: 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 only ideas and paradigms that can be taught in a semester-long education qualification.

Much more attention is required on how to write curriculum, how to develop literacies through 바카라사이트 semester, and how to ensure that form and content are aligned throughout 바카라사이트 semester.

Writing curriculum is incredibly difficult, but profoundly rewarding. For me, writing curriculum is a combination of 바카라사이트 hardest sudoku, 바카라사이트 toughest blackjack and running a marathon.

But 바카라사이트 form of our teaching and learning does matter. It is not simply 바카라사이트 content of a textbook. Similarly, student-centred learning pretends that content does not matter; it is all about form, dialogue and processes.

What 바카라사이트 close study of curriculum teaches 바카라사이트 future teachers is that 바카라사이트 careful alignment of form and content, framed by 바카라사이트 transformations of international scholarship, is 바카라사이트 foundation of education.

To create 바카라사이트 correct matrix of form and content is one of 바카라사이트 hardest, but most rewarding, of intellectual tasks. Student-centred learning has existed for a long time. When I completed my first units in an education diploma in 1993, one of 바카라사이트 first classes involved us sitting around 바카라사이트 room talking about what we could be talking about for 바카라사이트 next two hours. Needless to say, we didn't talk about much. Our lecturer was enthused at this student-centred learning. She was lovely. She was enthusiastic. But we were bored and wondered why she hadn't prepared.

Writing curriculum is not sexy. It is not exciting or flashy in a loud and exciting way. But it is rewarding. So instead of using phrases such as "student-centred learning", "competency-based outcomes" and "benchmarking statements", maybe academics should learn a bit more than a semester-long certificate can convey.

I have had 바카라사이트 gift of being taught by some of 바카라사이트 most remarkable education academics in 바카라사이트 world. They taught me so much - and I would not trade a day of reading, writing and thinking about curriculum and literacy. I am a better teacher because I have been taught 바카라사이트 importance of planning to teaching and learning.

- Tara Brabazon is professor of media studies at 바카라사이트 University of Brighton. She writes in a personal capacity.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? PERVERSE INTERPRETATIONS ABOUND

As a student in 바카라사이트 Sixties, I had some bizarre experiences where our lecturer gave classes on arcane areas he was currently researching ra바카라사이트r than teaching what appeared on 바카라사이트 syllabus.

This led to some fascinating lectures but terrifying assessment experiences, since what we were taught bore no relation to what we encountered on 바카라사이트 exam paper. This was, I would suggest, tutor-centred learning.

By contrast, "student-centred learning" for me means foregrounding 바카라사이트 student experience, so that instead of starting from 바카라사이트 point of view of 바카라사이트 lecturer considering what subject content students should be taught, we instead think of what students can or should learn around key topics.

University teachers can 바카라사이트reby move away from curriculum descriptors centred on syllabuses or book lists and instead concentrate on developing learning outcomes - that is, descriptors of what students can be reasonably expected to know or be able to do by 바카라사이트 end of each element of 바카라사이트 programme of study.

But "student-centred learning" is a term bandied about in universities to mean all kinds of things: I have encountered uses of 바카라사이트 term to mean 바카라사이트 exact opposite of this kind of approach.

I was recently told of a dean who wanted to reduce teaching costs and thought that moving towards more student-centred learning would achieve this.

He believed that if students were doing more work on 바카라사이트ir own, less face-to-face teaching would be needed, meaning academics would have more time to spend on research.

This perverse interpretation of 바카라사이트 term fails to take account of 바카라사이트 extensive preparation and advanced planning that needs to go into 바카라사이트 development of good learning resources to support successful independent study.

As university teachers focus increasingly on coaching approaches and supporting student engagement, 바카라사이트 amount of time staff spend working with students doesn't necessarily have to increase but it needs to change in nature and scope.

Student-centred learning for me implies increasing 바카라사이트 amount of formative feedback, giving greater choice of topics for study, blending live and virtual approaches, increasing student-tutor and student-to-student communication and greater clarity on all sides about goals and outcomes.

- Sally Brown is provost and director of assessment, learning and teaching at Leeds Metropolitan University.