Dated 23rd May 2011, In this blog
post the author talks about the importance of the role the teacher plays on
promoting independent learning inside and outside the classroom.
“Independent
learning is a process, a method and a philosophy of education whereby a learner acquires knowledge
by his or her own efforts and develops the ability for enquiry and critical
evaluation”
The author states that independent learning
is a journey a child goes on enhance their own understanding at a pace the
child doesn't get 'lost' by too much information thus being unable to keep up
with their peers.
Adapted Teaching
"A drive for independent learning within
and beyond the classroom certainly means a change in role from the
teacher. With more emphasis on learners taking responsibility for their
learning the teachers’ role becomes one of leader rather than controller of
learning"
Teacher's have to be
willing to adapt their lesson plans whilst also implementing independent
learning strategies.
Teacher's Role
"Teacher as facilitator, mentor, coach and guide:
Teachers are able to help learning in a myriad of ways and these will
vary with every lesson and every student, but some key ways that teachers can
act as facilitator, mentor, coach and guide are by:
·
Providing learners with resource materials
·
Whetting learners appetites to learn
·
Providing learners with opportunities to test out their learning
·
Giving learners feedback on their progress and
·
Helping learners to make sense of what they have learned"
The author explains that the role of
the teacher changes from a rigid role to a fluid role aimed at positively coaching
and impacting the learning development of every child inside and outside the
classroom.
Advantages of Independent Learning
"What’s
so great about Independent Learning anyway?
Directed learning, or teaching to the
test usually results in pupils passing the exams and jumping through the hoops
that the educational system requires of them. But it doesn’t prepare them
at all for life beyond the classroom – and in most cases it squeezes out any
passion, enjoyment or spark they might have had for learning in the first
place.
Independent learners have abilities
that will stand them in good stead both during and beyond their education such
as their ability to:
·
Acquire and deploy information
·
Communicate effectively using
different media
·
Organise themselves
·
Problem solve and
·
Relate to others"
The author argues the advantages of
independent learning and makes valid points on how it best prepares them to make
choices outside school.
Examples
of Independent Learning
"How
to promote Independent Learning:
One of the most important roles of
the teacher is to promote independent learning. There are a number of
practices you can build into your teaching to encourage independent learning
during every lesson. These include:
·
Giving pupils choices so they can reflect
on their own interests and preferences
·
Encouraging group work so that
learners can learn from each other
·
Collaborate with pupils to set shared
learning goals
·
Involve pupils in lesson planning
·
Encourage pupils to reflect and plan"
In my own experience as a special
educational needs learning support assistant (SEN LSA) I have witnessed
teachers promoting independent learning through 'jobs' such as: register
monitors, one child to count how many children are in, lights on monitors,
light off monitors, advent calendar, handing out books, having a worker of the
day for a child who had worked hard the previous day and the teacher allowing
the whole class to come up with classroom rules.
Summary
"Independent Learning needs teachers too!
So in short, the
teacher doesn’t become redundant once independent learning becomes firmly
embedded. In fact, quite the contrary is true. The teacher’s role
becomes more important than ever. It does, however, change beyond all
recognition"
To summarise I
picked this blog post as my literature review as I believe this blog post on
the importance of a teacher's role in implementing independent learning is significant
to my professional inquiry on "How do teachers foster the development of independent
learners in a special educational needs (SEN) context?". It argues the advantages of how the
implementation of independent learning impacts the learning development of all children and how crucial the role of
the teacher plays the part of "... facilitator, mentor, coach and guide:". Thanks for reading.
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