If you are interested in the learner-centered movement, be sure to take a look at the work from Education Evolving, an organization from Minnesota committed to drawing on three strategic levers to advance the work: thought leadership, policy advocacy and educator networks.
In the area of thought leadership, they have a Publications section on their website. One of the papers I have found helpful in deepening my own understanding of learner-centered education, and one I have often shared with others looking for resources in this area, is a 2018 whitepaper titled Evidence for Student-Centered Learning.
The paper outlines Education Evolving’s seven principles of student-centered learning, supporting each with relevant research from the field.
I appreciate how the author, Krista Kaput, frames each principle, describing the gap for between the current school-centered paradigm and the learner-centered paradigm, and setting up a strong case for change fueled by the currently available research. For example, from the beginning of the section focused on Principle #4: Student Ownership and Agency:
In a Taylorist public education system, students are taught from a predetermined curriculum and provided with “efficient” step-by-step procedures for completing tasks. This results in students having minimal ownership and agency in their learning.
This contradicts a large body of research which has found that meaningfully involving students in their education can increase their academic achievement, motivation, effort, participation and engagement in their learning.
Kaput backs up the assertion with research and an in-the-field example of each principle. The end of the whitepaper includes a robust list of over 100 references readers can dig into to feed further curiosities.
Student-centered learning isn’t yet the dominate conversation for education in our country. As you look to promote new models of student-centered learning, be sure to pay Education Evolving a visit.
What thought-leadership resources do you access to support your on-the-ground work to make learner-centered the dominant paradigm of education?
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