Instructor Centered vs. Student Centered

A few weeks ago we were discussing instructor centered vs. student centered learning. I took a special interest in this topic because when I had my evaluations at work this week, not being student-centered is what made the difference in me receiving an acceptable rating and receiving a noteworthy rating. I just could not understand how I was suppose to be evaluated if my students were doing all the work. Well on my final evaluation for the year I decided to try doing a project that focused solely on the student. BINGO! I finally got that noteworthy that I had been working so hard for! All it took was for me to come to the harsh reality that my evaluations really were not about me, it was about my students engaging in their own learning process and how I lead them to that point!

Anyway I said all that to say that when we were discussing this as a topic the class seemed to lean toward student centered learning being more feasible in a higher education. Our instructor politely redirected us saying:
Let me turn this around a bit and suggest that 'maybe' student-centered learning is something that can help to develop self-direction skills in students. Maybe student-centered learning doesn't need to be reserved for more advanced education and students? Student-centered learning would certainly look different (as I mentioned in response to Maxine's post) in a doctoral course than it would in a second-grade classroom. But, student-centered learning (or at least student-centered strategies) are possible within any environment and with any topic.

I could not agree more with the above statement. Student-centered learning has to start at the primary level. It absolutely is key in developing self-direction skills. If we waited until a certain age or level of education to develop these skills, we would handicap a lot of people. We cannot just assume that because you are a certain age or have a certain level of education that you are capable of self-directing. Like anything else, self-direction is something that has to be learned. Just as reaching the age of 16 does not automatically give you the necessary skills to drive, age and education level does not give you the necessary skills to self-direct. As educators it is our responsibility to find out how to develop these skills at the appropriate level so that by the time students reach college they will be able to maximize the benefits of student-centered learning. Equally as important if we don't develop these skills early we will raise up a generation that will require hand holding throughout their adult lives. Let's think about this, do we really want our future leaders to only be able to function if someone is holding their hand!?!