The seventh week has to deal with an important topic namely "learner autonomy". I went through the suggested reading list recommended by Courtney. I agree with Samuel who states in his article that Learner Autonomy is like "a bird-in-the-bush", not a bird-in-the-hand. In my initial post in the Nicenet site, I have considered it as an "illusive reality". I also gave my arguments in favor of my point. I have looked at the Indian situation in my post. Now I elaborate on the issue below:
The learners want to be "autonomous" always, but they do not become so in the social and cultural settings prevailing around them.The society is controlled by a power-structure and someone becomes the authority in all matters including education. When one is the ruler, the others have to be the ruled. If the teacher is the authority to control the teaching context, the content and the method without taking the learners into confidence, then we can not expect to have learner autonomy. The learners are the true stake-holders, but they have very little to say in the making of the syllabus, in the selection of content, in the method of teaching/learning and in the procedure of evaluation. The teachers do not have the autonomy in all matters, barring a few who are at the helms of affairs. The system is like the Big Brother's authoritarianism, which is controlled by the Inner Party as we find in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four. A few powerful beings decide for the mass and all have to abide by theses rules in a prescriptive manner.Where is the true liberty/ freedom to have self-directed learning and self-assessment as advocated by all modern thinkers?
Autonomy is not a product, but a process. It is not a static condition, but "a dynamic process amenable to educational interventions"(Candy 1991). Ideologically, we all believe in it, but we do not practice it in reality.
The syllabus is prepared well in advance, the content is also selected and prescribed, the teacher behaves under certain constraints-time-constraint, content-related and institutional-related constraints. The learners are not properly motivated to take self-directed decisions in terms of planning, monitoring, implementing and evaluating. The teacher-centered class room can not be the learner-centered class room so easily.
The teacher has to finish his syllabus during the stipulated time, evaluate the performance of learners and give them degrees which promotes them to the next stage. While he is busy in finishing these institutional requirements on paper, he stops thinking in an innovative way for the autonomy of his learners. The learner-centric class room is a proposition, not a reality even today due to various factors. Hence, the learner autonomy is not likely to happen as a matter of fact. I also agree that the teacher's role is very important in a changing scenario.His teaching practices are flexible; he can decide his content/lessons and activities in the class room. But this time-bound exercise in a limited way under the supervision of teachers does not make learners "autonomous" in a true sense. They have to be trained from early childhood days by parents initially and then by teachers as adults to be autonomous-think and act independently about their learning and bright future.
All come to educational institutions to get proper education and acquire knowledge, but all are not properly trained or motivated to be autonomous thinkers or doers. All can not be promoted with equal grades and all can not be guaranteed with white-collar jobs and lucrative salary after completion of education. Many have to be entrepreneurs generating their own salary from business and also recruitment for others in their farms.
When young persons start acting towards that goal in a big way, we can say that we have made our learners "autonomous" practically.
Hope my post would invite many comments from my colleagues.
Sincerely,
Mahesh Dey
The learners want to be "autonomous" always, but they do not become so in the social and cultural settings prevailing around them.The society is controlled by a power-structure and someone becomes the authority in all matters including education. When one is the ruler, the others have to be the ruled. If the teacher is the authority to control the teaching context, the content and the method without taking the learners into confidence, then we can not expect to have learner autonomy. The learners are the true stake-holders, but they have very little to say in the making of the syllabus, in the selection of content, in the method of teaching/learning and in the procedure of evaluation. The teachers do not have the autonomy in all matters, barring a few who are at the helms of affairs. The system is like the Big Brother's authoritarianism, which is controlled by the Inner Party as we find in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four. A few powerful beings decide for the mass and all have to abide by theses rules in a prescriptive manner.Where is the true liberty/ freedom to have self-directed learning and self-assessment as advocated by all modern thinkers?
Autonomy is not a product, but a process. It is not a static condition, but "a dynamic process amenable to educational interventions"(Candy 1991). Ideologically, we all believe in it, but we do not practice it in reality.
The syllabus is prepared well in advance, the content is also selected and prescribed, the teacher behaves under certain constraints-time-constraint, content-related and institutional-related constraints. The learners are not properly motivated to take self-directed decisions in terms of planning, monitoring, implementing and evaluating. The teacher-centered class room can not be the learner-centered class room so easily.
The teacher has to finish his syllabus during the stipulated time, evaluate the performance of learners and give them degrees which promotes them to the next stage. While he is busy in finishing these institutional requirements on paper, he stops thinking in an innovative way for the autonomy of his learners. The learner-centric class room is a proposition, not a reality even today due to various factors. Hence, the learner autonomy is not likely to happen as a matter of fact. I also agree that the teacher's role is very important in a changing scenario.His teaching practices are flexible; he can decide his content/lessons and activities in the class room. But this time-bound exercise in a limited way under the supervision of teachers does not make learners "autonomous" in a true sense. They have to be trained from early childhood days by parents initially and then by teachers as adults to be autonomous-think and act independently about their learning and bright future.
All come to educational institutions to get proper education and acquire knowledge, but all are not properly trained or motivated to be autonomous thinkers or doers. All can not be promoted with equal grades and all can not be guaranteed with white-collar jobs and lucrative salary after completion of education. Many have to be entrepreneurs generating their own salary from business and also recruitment for others in their farms.
When young persons start acting towards that goal in a big way, we can say that we have made our learners "autonomous" practically.
Hope my post would invite many comments from my colleagues.
Sincerely,
Mahesh Dey
4 comments:
Mahesh Dey,
You have articulated all sides of learner autonomy in a thorough and well-thought out reflection this week.
I particularly like how you emphasize that creating autonomous learners is a process. The real point here is that it is a process for the learner themselves. A teacher, at any given point in time, can only aid the learner in this process, and the process is life long. Being teachers and having awareness of the power that being an autonomous learner has, we continually strive to increase our own learner autonomy and teacher autonomy for that matter.
Each member of this course is an autonomous teacher for simply beging here and in the process is getting back in touch with their own learning autonomy. Perhaps in this process, you can become more aware of how to aid your students in increasing their metacognitive awareness and encouraging greater learner autonomy.
Excellent reflections!
Dear Courtney,
Thanks for your encouragement and positive feedback on my reflections.
I am excited and thrilled in my progress as an autonomous learner of this course under your guidance and with a peer group of different countries.
Best wishes and regards.
Sincerely,
Mahesh
Hi Mahesh
You're very articulate in your views about learner autonomy and the challenges that lie everywhere preventing it from being a reality in the classroom. You're right - we've challenges and a system that resists any proactive changes. However, from a 'there is no alternative' situation IMO, we need to move to 'there are people's alternatives'.
A suggestion I can think of the way in which teachers transact the prescribed curriculum in the class - lot can happen over the way in which actual teaching eventually happens in real classrooms. It is there that I see a ray of hope.
Regards, Cherry.
Dear Cherry,
Thanks.
Yes, I agree that there is a ray of hope in all situations, but think of our students and their mental strength,also their attitude towards higher education in recent days.They are autonomous in adopting mobile technology, fashion technology, etc., but very backward in creativity and original thinking.They do not want to work hard for success on their own talents, but to borrow other's ideas, to download/copy & paste for everything you assign them to do.
That is why I am a bit pessimistic on the issue.However, we have to pass on whatever we possess to our future learners only, no one else.
Am I right?Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Mahesh
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