Life Long Learning

Self Directed Learning

Learners and Self-directed Learning

The learners who are used to working in dominant teacher-centred classrooms may have a number of assumptions about language learning which are contradictory to the principles of self directed learning. The learners might think th

·  they cannot learn without being controlled by a teacher,

·  there is one ideal method and their teachers possess it,

·  their knowledge of and experience of learning other subjects cannot be used to learn languages better and

·  they are not capable of making any valid assessment of their own performance.

Holec (1980) says that learners need a psychological preparation for self learning. This would be a gradual ‘deconditioning  process’ through which they can free themselves from prejudices about language learning. Through psychological preparation learners can develop self confidence in their ability to work independently of the teacher. So the psychological preparation is  concerned with three issues,

1. persuading learners to try self-instruction

2. facilitating a change of attitude about language learning after overcoming false assumptions and prejudices and

3. helping them build self confidence in their ability to work independently of the teacher.

Stern (1983) identifies four basic sets of strategies which are exhibited by good language learners. He describes

1.       an active planning strategy,

2.       an academic(explicit) learning strategy,

3.       a social learning strategy and

4.       an affective strategy.

These strategies refer to the way good language learners cope with learning problems. Good language learners have the ability to select goals and sub-goals and are able to identify the stages of development. They are able to view language as a system and understand the relationship between form and meaning and are able to monitor their performance and improve it. They recognize that they will have a dependent status in the initial stages of learning and get actively involved in participating in exchanges. They are able to cope with the emotional and motivational problems of language learning. They develop positive attitudes towards the whole experience of language learning.

Learners can become self-directed learners by

· taking up the responsibility for deciding what to learn, how to learn, how much to learn and how well to learn;

· taking an active role in learning, seeking every opportunity to understand, practice, learn and assess their own performance; and

· taking the responsibility to decide whether to continue learning.

Those learners who have no ambition towards learner autonomy and who are reluctant to take up responsibility for their own work could benefit from preparing learner contracts. The learners could prepare a contract to work individually or with others in a group and structure the work. As Leslie Dickinson (1987) rightly points out,

“This structuring includes determining goals, determining deadlines for completing work, and determining intensity of work. It also includes specifying the means of evaluating how well the goals have been achieved. Thus, it helps the learner to develop autonomy from the teacher and from the control of a single textbook.”

The learners prepare contracts for themselves wherein they specify the decisions regarding the work they are going to take up, the activities they are going to engage in, the resources they are going to use and the way of demonstrating that they have met the objectives. Learners could also be asked to reflect on their learning experience and maintain a record of what they learnt, how they learnt it and what problems they faced while learning it and what they intend to do next. Once learners learn how to learn they would be on the path to development and much of the teachers’ burden in terms of information transfer can be reduced. In this era of constant change and knowledge explosion, learning how to learn is the most important lesson of life and is a worthwhile endeavour to be taken up by everyone concerned with education.

Summary

Self-directed learning can be gradually introduced in any learning programme wherein the learners have the opportunity to revert to a more teacher-controlled way of learning, if they so desire. It is important to facilitate autonomy and independence in language learning. But it cannot be done unless a special effort is made to understand the issues involved in introducing self-directed learning and prepare the institutions, teachers and learners to benefit from it. Though it sounds contradictory learners need to be taught how to learn on their own and they need to be prepared for this new role.

Tasks for Consolidation

1.  Prepare a plan to introduce self-directed learning as part of a course, either partially or completely.

2.  Suggest the necessary steps to prepare a teacher who facilitates self-directed learning and explain how she should help her learners develop autonomy.

3.  State the problems of introducing self-directed learning. Mention the precautionary steps to be taken to overcome the problems.

4.  How can we ensure that a self-directed programme combines the advantages of teacher control with independent learning?

5.  Review a book or a website providing information on self-directed learning.

Reference

1. Dickinson, Leslie. 1987. Self-instruction in Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.

This book provides comprehensive information about the characteristics of self instruction and self directed learning and offers very detailed guidelines for setting up a self access center and for preparing teachers and learner to take up self instruction.

2. Lowry, Cheryl Meredith. 1989. Supporting and Facilitating Self-Directed Learning. ERIC Digest No. 93. ERIC Identifier: ED312457. http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/

This website has a number of articles and this article particularly discusses Self Directed learning, the role of the educational institutions, teachers and learners and the preparation required for implementing self directed learning successfully.