Jump in to discover which teaching methodology is injurious to learners, either teacher-centered or student-centered approach

1. Teacher-Centered VS Student-Centered
Learning: Which one is Better?
Google defines the term education as an “enlightening experience.” Meaning that it’s
a process that imparts wisdom and education to youngsters. Keeping this in mind,
researchers started working on teaching methodologies to check whether those
strategies fulfilled the learning criteria or not. Over time, they found that teacher-
centered classrooms where students are not encouraged to speak up and participate
in discussions undermine the original learning purpose.
This is where student-centered learning comes into play!
If you want to know the major differences between these two strategies, plus which
teaching method is better, then you’re on the right platform.
We’ve discussed everything in detail below…

2. What is Teacher-Centered Learning?
These instructions revolve around teachers only. Teachers speak… teachers
interact… teachers do everything, and the students just listen (passive learning).
Most of the time, students get frustrated, which deviates their attention from the
lecture. They don’t focus; they don’t learn, and as a result, they end up with F
grades in the most subjects.
Some of the characteristics of teacher-centered learning are:
• Knowledge is passively transferred to the students.
• Students are bombarded with knowledge and information.
• Teachers, online tutors, and instructors are the centers of attention.
• Students are not expected to collaborate with their peers or teachers.
• Pupils’ opinions and recommendations are often neglected.
• Teachers seem to be the kings of the class!
• Students’ autonomous study skills are not empowered.
Unfortunately, this approach has failed in helping students reach their maximum
potential. Modern pedagogy's main focus is to foster learners’ autonomous learning
skills. However, teacher-centered doesn’t support a culture where students aren’t
reliant on teachers. The main disadvantage of this approach is that it damages
learners’ cognitive, memorization and decision-making skills. Because they are
expected to learn a limited set of information provided by teachers without focusing
on processing skills that are required in professional life.
The only advantage of this approach is that teachers can control their students and
deliver their lectures without any hindrances from the students’ side. This, however,
is a great disadvantage to the learners.
What is Student-Centered Learning?
Unlike the above strategy, this approach places the students at the center of the
learning experience. Focusing more on students in traditional or virtual classrooms
can create a learning environment that sparks passion and ignite students’
enthusiasm.
The student-centered approach involves active learning, which means that the
students are encouraged to think, analyze and discuss information.
Here is an image that clearly illustrates the main differences between teacher-
centered and student-centered learning:

3. As you can see in the image, student centered-learning has more advantages over
teacher-centered learning. Let’s explore this argument in more detail in the next
section.
Is Learner-Centered Teaching Better? If yes,
Then Why?
As discussed above, student-centered learning allows students to participate and
share their opinions in the classroom. This fosters creative thinking, builds problem-
solving skills, strengthens confidence, and promotes autonomous learning. Hence,
calling this teaching methodology the most effective approach won’t be wrong.
Here’re some impacts of learner-centered teaching on students:
Cultivates Problem Solving Skills
Students spend half of their lives in schools, colleges and universities. From a very
young age to adulthood, they learn, learn and learn. This course of their lives
prepares them for the future. Learners are expected to master all the skills, such as
problem-solving expertise, that will help them in their professional lives.
But how will one strengthen his decision-making skills if he just keeps sitting in a
classroom listening to a boring lecture? And how will a learner who never
participated in class discussions effectively communicate with his colleagues in the
future?
The point is that student-centered learning fosters problem-solving skills that are
much needed in professional life. Activities like role-plays, quizzes, etc., teach the
learners how to define, analyze, evaluate and determine the solution to a problem.
Boosts Confidence
Healthy self-confidence can do wonders!
It develops learners’ social skills, eradicates fear and improves their motivation.
With self-confidence, students tend to take pride in their skills while accepting and
improving their flaws. Sadly, approaches that revolve around teachers only kill
learners’ confidence and transform them into terrifying puppets having zero
leadership skills.
Alternatively, student-centered learning supports an environment where learners
can collaborate with each other, share their ideas and present their projects in front
of the class or institution. This ultimately reduces their public fear and makes them
better personalities.

4. Teachers, when designing a student-centered lesson plan, focus on both strengths
and weaknesses of the learners. They add certain activities to the plan that help
them feel confident, capable, and stronger. Such tasks provide the building blocks
for self-confidence and make the learning experience entertaining.
Elevates Students’ Interest
Learner-centered learning is enriched with interesting tasks that hold students'
attention during lectures. When students are forced to attend the never-ending
boring lectures, their brains start giving up, hindering their concentration. Even
though they keep sitting in the class for hours, they won’t learn anything in this
case. This is why teacher-centred learning has faced huge criticism from scholars
and educational experts.
To ensure that the students are learning, it is important for teachers to capture their
attention. And for the same purpose, using learner-centered approach is perfect. As
an instructor, you can use technology in classrooms, i.e., projectors for showcasing
colorful PowerPoint presentations or interesting educational videos. This small yet
amazing strategy can hook the learners’ interest and further add motivation for
learning into their hearts. Apart from that, teachers should conduct fun activities
inside and outside the class to provide real-life experiences to the students.
In short, student-centered learning’s main focus remains on learners and using this
strategy makes learning more effective.
Strengthens Team Working Skills
Ryunosuke Satoro once said that “Individually you’re one drop, together we’re
ocean”. True to these lines, from a doctor to an engineer and from an architect to a
businessman, every person needs a team to reach success. This highlights the
importance of strengthening students’ team working skills.
When students are divided into groups to perform a certain activity in a learner-
centered environment, they try to solve a particular problem with effective
collaboration. This way, they learn how to lead a team, what measures should be
taken to manage the team and so on. In other words, student-centered learning
provides a real-life-like environment to the students where they’re expected to
work independently and solve problems autonomously.
5 Steps to Creating Student-Centered Virtual
Environment

5. As we all know that technology has shifted educational trends into entirely new
directions. Instead of the traditional classrooms, we now have Skype. And, instead
of hardcover books, students now use soft copies. With these changes in the
academic world, scholars started facing new challenges, such as building a virtual
student-centered learning environment.
If you’re conducting online classes and aim to help your students achieve academic
success, then you need to use student-centered approach. Here are the steps for
your guidance:
Know Your Students Well
The very first step is to understand your students. Gather data about their prior
knowledge, experiences, and interests. Figure out what works for students and what
does not.
Does any particular platform impact their learning behavior? Which tools have they
used previously for learning? Finding the answers to all these questions is
important because only this will help you conduct online classes where the students
won’t get bored and frustrated.
List Down Your Objectives

6. Once you’re done with the above step, you must highlight your objectives.
For online English teachers, it’s humanly impossible to target all four English skills,
i.e., writing, reading, listening and speaking, in one class. Every skill has further sub-
skills. To teach them effectively, the teacher should divide the course into different
lectures and set specific objectives for each class. For instance, an English tutor can
set objectives, i.e., improve pronunciation and vocabulary in session one,
strengthen grammar writing skills in session 2 and so on.
The same is the case with every subject. Depending on the subject you're teaching,
draft your goals but ensure they’re achievable and flexible.
Choose the Right Technology

7. Now comes choosing the right kind of software and hardware. In this ever-evolving
digital world, new hardware and online teaching platforms never stop coming in.
This makes it difficult for teachers to pick the right technology for their classes.
Pre-technology tests can help instructors decide which software or hardware is best
for their virtual classrooms. Test technology before conducting online classes and, if
possible, try different software/hardware to pick the best one.
For lectures that include PowerPower slides, you can stick with software that allows
screen sharing, such as Skype and Zoom. You might have to spend extra time doing
this, but believe me, it’s worth it.
Incorporate Fun Activities

8. To create a student-centered online learning environment, you must keep your
students engaged from the first minute of the lecture to the last. I recommend
integrating activities encouraging learners to speak and participate during class. For
example, as a chemistry teacher, you can ask your students to prepare an
interesting project on the periodic table instead of assigning them a quiz. This way,
learners would take more interest in the periodic table and ultimately memorize
chemical names while preparing the project.
Form Online Discussion Forums

9. You should stay in touch with your students after online classes as well. They might
need support in a project or homework. You can create WhatsApp groups and
allow them to share their queries there. You can also share homework reminders,
deadlines, datasheets, and other relevant information there. Further, online tutors
who are teaching individual students can communicate with the learners on calls or
text messages.
Wrapping up!
Student-centered learning is an essential part of education.
If you’re not going to engage learners in classes, then you’re not going to build a
generation of talented people who can lead in future and solve complex problems
to make this world a better place. Luckily, with the right activities, student-centered
teaching can make learning more effective and instil all the required skills in
youngsters.
On the other hand, teacher-centered learning approach can kill students’
productivity, so its best to avoid using it in both traditional and virtual classrooms.