This is a blog article in which the author reports her reactions to an interview with Parker Palmer and a rereading of his classic book, The Courage to Teach. In the article, the author suggests that, having gone through ages of teacher-centered and then learner-centered practice, "[i]t is time for us to start addressing the more complex and interesting task of joining together teacher-centered and learner-centered instruction.” She then provides brief examples of the pitfalls of each approach and how application of effective strategies from the other approach could prevent them.
Type of Material:
Blog article
Recommended Uses:
Workshop handout, independent study.
Technical Requirements:
None
Identify Major Learning Goals:
This blog post could be used as a discussion starter for faculty developers, instructors, or future faculty.
Understand the relationship between teacher-centered and learner-centered education
Target Student Population:
Faculty developers, instructors, TAs.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
An understanding of teacher-centered and learner-centered education.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The author provides a very articulate justification for the integration of teacher-centered and learner-centered approaches to teaching.
Concerns:
The pedagogical research behind the author’s position is implicit only in this article. Hopefully, the article would send those unfamiliar with this research straight to their teaching and learning center; however, if this didn’t occur, it’s possible the article might not be fully understood.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
This brief blog article provides a thoughtful and concise view of the state of affairs in teaching and learning in the U.S. and proposes some rethinking. It could provoke discussion and perhaps reconsideration of approaches to teaching and revisiting current procedures for peer evaluation of teaching by some.
Concerns:
This article draws on the author's lifetime of research, teaching, and writing. While there are tags that can be used to search for other articles on the blog, it would help those unfamiliar with the research to have a small number of references. I suggest the author’s own Learner-Centered Teaching to start.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
This is an article on the Teaching Professor Blog which is readily available on the Internet. Easy to read.
Concerns:
None
Creative Commons:
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