Learner-Centered Paradigms

In the research literature on pedagogy, a learner-centered paradigm holds students’ interests as a primary organizing principle in educational environments. This definition has been explored in classrooms, lecture halls, after-school clubs, community spaces, and ad hoc organizational meetings in the workplace. Instructional strategies that help establish learner centeredness start with an acknowledgment that learners have different abilities, interests, and life experiences. Depending on context, these strategies might include make-and-share projects drawn from participants’ interests; activities that permit individual control of outcomes; and opportunities for using new skills or knowledge to address real-world challenges. Overall, researchers agree that learner-centered paradigms emphasize active learning and goal-directed, tangible activities that amplify collaboration. This entry further defines learner-centered paradigms, discusses how the concept developed, and looks at research into ...