Learner Centered Ideology

Instructional Setting Bedford High School is an urban public school near Cleveland, OH. The school is made up 1,034 students, 92% of whom are minorities, predominantly African American and 62% of students are labeled as economically disadvantaged. I mainly teach US Government to juniors. My classes consist of anywhere from 20 to 30 students in a period. Many of my students have exceptional need in reading and writing as reading levels can range anywhere from above grade level all the way down to a fourth grade reading level. Along with reading and writing difficulties, many of my students lack motivation to learn. A Learner-Centered Classroom Learner-centered ideology, like its name, focuses solely on the learner as the center of a classroom. As we know, all students bring their own uniqueness to the classroom, whether it be background and or ability level, amongst many other things. A learner-centered approach focuses on the growth of an individual. Because of this, curriculum should be created, keeping in mind teachers, classmates and environment, in order to stimulate growth (Schiro, 2008). In addition, learner-centered ideology believes that there should not be one growth target but many, due to each student being unique and different, having their own personal growth targets. The focus of learner-centered ideology is placed on the learner and their environment with the addition of the teacher (Schiro, 2008). Building off the foundation set forth by Schiro, the instructional strategy I use most in my classroom is known as service level-objectives or SLO’s. A service level-objective is given to all of my students, in order to measure growth, and is a very learner-centered approach because it is individual instruction. All students take a pretest at the beginning of the year and a post test at the end of the year, or SLO exam. After the Pre-Test, the data is broken down and each student is given a different, obtainable goal, by using the Austin Formula. Throughout the course of the year, there is not only a major emphasis on growth in my classroom, but individual growth. Because of these individual growth goals, learning becomes individualized. Although there are still whole class assessments, both summative and formative, most of the work done in my classroom is differentiated with each individual student’s growth outcome in mind. Not only do student learning-objectives encompass learner-centered principles, they are perfect for y instructional setting. In y instructional setting, ability level varies significantly from students who are above grade level, all the way to students who are around a 4th grade reading level, amongst other things. SLO’s allow for me to individualize instruction and meet the diverse needs of my students. Instead of dumbing down the curriculum, each student is expected to show growth throughout the year, a key component of learner-centered ideology. Leaner-centered ideology puts an emphasis on the learner, just like SLOs do within my classroom. Students are all working towards achieving their own goals, unique to them, in a whole class setting. A Learner-Centered Activity Throughout my teaching, the majority of my activities used are learner-centered. To help students achieve their student learning-objectives, jigsaws are a great learner-centered activity to meet the diverse needs of my students. Jigsaws are a unique way for a learner-centered approach combined with cooperative learning. Students are put in groups of four. Each student is given a segment; in my classroom this is usually a reading. The students read their reading and answer questions. They then group up with everyone else who had the same reading. After discussing their reading and questions with their groups, they become experts and return to their home group. Once in their home group, each student uses their own expertise and shares out their own segment to complete the jigsaw activity. Learner-centered strategies are all throughout jigsaws. Along with being individual instruction, jigsaws are small group instruction. The jigsaw method allows for a great deal of differenation. Each person in a home group has a different reading or segment to the jigsaw. Each of these segments can vary on reading level as well as modification level. Since they vary on reading level, each student can be working towards their own SLO within the jigsaw activity. Aside from improving their reading levels, and teaching to different reading levels, jigsaws allow for students to work at their own pace and towards a difficulty that is challenging for them, but not impossible. Jigsaws are perfect for my instructional setting because there are many students with varying ability levels and reading levels. Jigsaw meets both of those needs in all students in one activity. In addition, in a classroom where my students are not too motivated, jigsaws are proven to help motivate students according to the Jigsaw Classroom (2020).