Teacher-Centered versus New Learning Culture (NLC) Education
Based on the upcoming book The New Learning Culture by Carmen Gamper
Following is a comparison of the major differences between the teacher-centered model of traditional public schools and the child-centered model of the NLC used at SAGE. Among other differences, in the NLC child-based model there are no hourly changes of subjects, no age-divided classes, no preset curricula, no imposed competition, no compulsory testing, no grades, no punishments, and no rewards.
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OLD PARADIGM:
TEACHER-CENTERED EDUCATION Children are disempowered by having to fit into an adult-determined, confining structure. Teachers decide what is best for students.
Result: Students don’t learn to take responsibility for their own learning progress. Teachers use a preset curriculum for the whole classroom that often stands in opposition to children’s authentic needs. Result: Children’s genuine needs are not met. Children’s will and wishes are ignored. Result: Children are disconnected from their inner guidance over and over again, and thus their sensitivity decreases. Children’s natural curiosity and spontaneous activities are buried under teacher-directed lessons. Result: Disappointment, boredom, and struggle replace young children’s natural curiosity. The learning process is determined by “right” and “wrong.” Making mistakes is often accompanied by shame or punishment. Result: Students are afraid to make mistakes and thus develop low self-confidence and cease to explore new things. Children usually learn by doing hard work. Result: Children and adults think that learning can come only through hard work, and the joy of learning is lost. Learning is often equated with memorizing. Result: Children think that only what is written in a book or shared by a teacher is valid. Play is seen as a superficial activity for leisure only. Result: The powerful creative, self-healing, and self-educating forces inherent in play are largely untapped. Children study because they learn to desire an adult-given reward or are afraid of an adult-given punishment. Result: Children lose a major source of happiness and well-being: the joy that comes from a present-moment activity and the inherent reward that comes from an accomplished task. Children are urged to think of tomorrow’s tests or yesterday’s mistakes and are thus not allowed to stay in the present moment. Result: Children lose the capacity to enjoy the present moment and instead develop anxiety. As adults, a core feeling of “I should do something different now” becomes a constant companion. Classrooms are mostly made for sitting, listening, and learning individually. Result: Children are trained to become quiet, passive listeners who work by themselves in competition with their peers. School starts early in the morning, even if it is still dark outside. Result: Students are sleep-deprived and thus have a lower capacity for learning. Children are not encouraged to interact with their environment; they are passive receivers. Result: Children’s sensitivity to the environment decreases and they don’t feel responsible for their environment. Children are required to be quiet and listen to the teacher. Result: Children learn to be quite even if they don’t understand or when they feel something is “wrong.” Intellectual and academic achievements are considered more important than physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Result: Over time, children accumulate layers of inner tension from not being able to express what is inside them. Children face many artificial challenges, including: • Long hours of sitting • Inactivity and passivity • Neglect of natural learning development • Learning about and memorizing content they are not currently interested in • Pressure through involuntary tests and timed assignments • Sleep deprivation • No time to process emotions • Left alone during conflicts with peers Result: To preserve their authenticity, children often find themselves in a power struggle with teachers and the school system. |
NEW PARADIGM:
NEW LEARNING CULTURE EDUCATION Children are empowered to make personal decisions within healthy boundaries. Learning companions trust the children’s capacity to co-direct and self-direct their learning processes.
Result: Students learn they are responsible for their own learning progress. Learning companions honor each individual child, collaborating with their natural states of development and genuine needs. Result: Children are empowered to take their own genuine needs seriously and learn to fulfill them. Children’s will and wishes are honored within healthy boundaries. Result: Children remain connected to their inner guidance. Children’s natural curiosity and spontaneous activities are honored. Result: Children are empowered to develop a lifelong love for learning. Each learning experience is considered valid in itself. Result: Students learn through trial and error and through direct feedback from their own activities. They develop self- confidence because they learn to rely on their own judgment. Children often learn effortlessly and spontaneously through play in interaction with tangible things. Result: Children and adults understand that play and joy are part of learning just as much as is hard work. Learning is seen as a holistic process that occurs in interaction with tangible things. Result: Learning happens throughout the day and does not stop when the teacher is out of the room or when there are no books. Play is recognized as children’s main way of learning and processing emotions. Result: Children thrive and love learning Children learn because they are motivated from within, and their reward is in the activity itself. Result: Children develop a sense of self from inner guidance that is independent of other people’s approval. Children are allowed to stay in the present moment. Result: Children learn and remember as adults that true happiness and well-being come from being in the present moment. Classrooms are environments prepared for active self-directed learning in spontaneous collaboration with others. Result: Children communicate freely and participate actively in teamwork projects by their own choice. School hours are adapted to children’s and families’ genuine needs. Result: Children have less stress in the mornings and a much greater capacity for learning. Children are encouraged to interact with, manipulate, and change their environment. Result: Children grow up feeling responsible for their environment and empowered to change it for the better. Children are welcome to express their voice and co-direct a lesson. Each lesson is adapted to the children’s speed and rhythm. Result: Children learn that their voice is powerful and practice becoming confident speakers. Physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development are all considered important and fostered. Result: Children can release emotional tension as they go, because natural tension releasers such as laughing, crying, movement, and pretend play are fostered. Children focus on natural challenges, including: • Making decisions in alignment with inner guidance • Adapting to change • Overcoming learning difficulties • Finding a personal place in the community • Growing up in an adult-determined world • A rapidly changing body and a growing mind • The inevitable social, emotional, and spiritual challenges of growing up Result: Children are able to focus on their unique challenges while being supported by learning companions. |