The article “From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Curriculum: Improving Learning in Diverse Classrooms” is written by Kathy Laboard Brown, an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and an executive director for the South Carolina Association of Teacher Educators. Throughout her life she has been exploring the subject of education contributing greatly to the development of new methods of studying; it can be stated that her interest in the topic is both personal and scholarly. The title of the article draws the reader’s attention at once and reflects the content of the work. The article comes from the journal “Education” which is a publication dealing with writings on education. The article is up-to-date and is addressing the issues which have recently become controversial.
The materials presented in the article are important for the development of the topic of learner-centered paradigm shift since they deal with it directly. The article has a clear introduction where the author states why the teacher-centered curriculum needs to be replaced by the learner-centered one. She also describes learner-centered classrooms and informs what the transition to this kind of classroom involves. “Learner-centered classrooms place students at the center of classroom organization and respect their learning needs, strategies, and styles” (Brown, 2003). The introduction is followed by the purpose of the article and several issues the author addresses.
The intended audience is general though specialists and scholars will also find the necessary information in Brown’s research. The article does not use any terms specific to this area of study. The language is precise and the organization of the article is accurate.
The article is aimed at finding out whether a paradigm shift is required when moving from the traditional teacher-centered to a new learner-centered approach. The author emphasizes that planning and learning characteristics are essential for this kind of approach; the approach itself is all about focusing on the learning characteristics of each learner separately taking into account his/her background, needs, capacities, special interests, and experiences. She examines the study of another scholar, McCombs, who has been also exploring this subject. Brown refers to this scholar throughout the article and is mostly supporting the discoveries of the scholar. She also relies on the studies of other scholars and is comparing their discussions of the concept of learner-centeredness.
The article gives an overview of a teacher-centered approach outlining its main strengths and weaknesses. “Student achievement is at the forefront of teacher-centered curriculum, but teachers are driven to meet accountability standards and often sacrifice the needs of the students to ensure exposure to the standards” (Brown, 2003). Further, the teacher-centered approach is contrasted with the learner-centered one and the latter is presented as more beneficial since it pays attention to differences between the students and their learning characteristics. The learner-centered approach allows the students to develop critical thinking rather than simply listening and absorbing information without processing it.
Brown notes that reflective inquiry contributes to a successful implementation of a learner-centered approach. This process is all about an engagement of teachers into analysis assumptions and feelings they have about their practice and then acting being guided by the results of this analysis. She emphasizes the importance of assessment which is necessary for measuring the quality of the programs which are carried out. The article concludes that the transition from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered one does require a paradigm shift and stresses the importance of reflective inquiry and assessment of program quality for the successful implementation of a learner-centered approach.
References
Brown, K.L. (2003). From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Curriculum: Improving Learning in Diverse Classrooms. Education, 124(1), 49.