Teaching and Learning: The teacher-centred learning approach
- Roy Edwards
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
In the blog last week, we explored the meaning, objectives, and application of the term student-centred learning. This week we shift to examine the contrasting style of the teacher-centred approach that is almost uniformly dominant outside of the cluster of English-speaking nations.
What is meant by the term teacher-centred learning
The term teacher-centred learning (TLC) describes a method in which educators occupy the central position in the learning acquisition experience. This includes being the main source of knowledge while guiding the pace, organisation, and content of sessions with students. Then, students are allocated a predominantly passive role of receiving information through some combination of listening, observing, and note-making. Indeed, in many cultural contexts that we shall explore further in a future blog on learning styles, students never typically speak in class unless called upon by the teacher.
Why TCL is closer to the actual early faculty learning experience
The learning environment that students commonly encounter when commencing their faculty studies tends to be a more teacher-centred experience that requires extended periods of reading, active listening, and quiet reflection. Much of the limited early speaking requirement is focused more on seeking clarification of issues raised by the educator rather than offering comments on the topic under investigation.
This is further exemplified by an examination of the initial learning agenda that is typically focused on the following:
The development of skills that enhance critical reading in terms of how to research appropriate academic texts and identify the placement of key arguments and supporting evidence.
The learning of approaches to the critical analysis of the quality and depth of the evidence provided in academic texts.
The acquisition of techniques that enable the synthesis of arguments from different sources, together with an examination of ways to effectively evaluate the usefulness of sources in relation to task completion requirements.
The enhancement of attentiveness and active listening skills in the context of lectures, seminars, and tutorials.
The ability to design and apply of a range of effective note-making and note-taking styles that can improve listening, summarising and the presentation of concepts, arguments and supporting evidence.
The advantages of the TCL approach
The TCL style facilitates the flow of significant quantities of information efficiently and clearly within a carefully managed environment. This also ensures consistency of the content given the approach is typically highly structured. Finally, this helps students who often struggle in more open-ended and self-managed learning contexts.
The disadvantages and criticisms of TCL
The primary reason why a more TCL approach has received a ‘bad press’ in the learning environment of the ESNs is that several often unquestioned culturally based assumptions have been fed into a commonly held negative narrative. These critical observations include the perceived low level of student participation that, it is claimed, can also reduce interest and motivation to engage in independent creative endeavours.
Then, depending on the specific cultural context, it is maintained that few opportunities are made available for cooperative learning, especially student managed team-based homework tasks. However, these and other criticisms directed towards TCL will be challenged in future blogs in this series once we progress the issue of learning styles.
To conclude, in the blog next week we shall critically evaluate the ways in which contrasting cross-cultural values and behavioural expectations directly shape learning objectives and methods.
Questions
Why might TCL inhibit the development of critical thinking and reading?
Would it not be the case that nearly all initial learning is essentially teacher-directed?
Do cultural values and expectations shape the preferences for teaching and learning styles?
We shall explore Question 3 in the next blog.