All India Association for Educational Research

18th AIAER INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - Learning Centered Education
January 27th to 29th 2005

Contents:

Our Hosts

Theme and methodology of the Conference

What is learning centered education?

Overview of a curricular framework of learning-centered education

Curriculum and matching evaluation

Implement gradually but comprehensively

Teachers and their development

Caution: Need of new institutional management

Conclusions

Past activities: reporting

Future considerations AIAER

Earlier activities during AIAER conferences on:

Peace

4Th Wave Edcuation

Presidential Address - Learning Centered Holistic Education by DR. B.K. Passi, Bangkok, Thailand
@ St. Ignatius' College of Edcuation & Francis Xavier Engineering College Tirunelveli Tamil Nadu, India

Click the Hyperlinks to the left to advance to the different pages

What is learning-centered education?

Meaning of centeredness - One of the key words of the theme learning-centered education is “Centeredness”. What is its immediate background? UNESCO has proposed a new kind of education having fundamental principles called ‘four pillars of education’

(i) learning to know
(ii) learning to do
(iii) learning to live together
(iv) learning to be.

We know that learning is the central focus of that education which originates and is conducted with diverse perspectives. We must understand that there are millions of ways to determine this centering perspective. This perspective then guides the principles of centering everything in education. Some of the popular ways of this perspective are referred to as teacher centered education, learner centered education, community centered education, value centered education, craft-centered education, thinking- centered education, examination-centered education; job-centered education, problem centered education, meaning-centered education and so on. Different agents and stakeholders like learners, teachers, and community are the users and sometimes the creators of these perspectives. During the last few decades, people have rejected the perspectives of teacher-centeredness in education. These days, people have chosen child-centeredness in education. Once we choose the learner as the center of education, the next decisive question arises about “what aspects” of learners will be in the center of this education? Let us articulate this question by saying, “Where is the focus?” Is the focus (center) there on “learning” or “thinking” Some people like de-Bono want to keep ‘thinking’ at the center whereas some others want to keep ‘learning’ at the center. Both these claims are appealing. It is not easy to choose any one especially when they are interrelated. One more point is there for us to consider. People are questioning the amorphous term like learner-centered education. They are favoring to use learning-centered not learner centeredness. They like to have learning-centered curriculum, learning-centered teachers, and learning-centered schools. Before we go ahead, we need to understand learning-centered approaches, learning centered contents, learning-centered evaluation, and learning centered management of schools. Ultimately, we must understand Learning-Centered Learning ‘process-of learning-centeredness’ and hence, create a learning-centered education.

Preferred meanings of learning-centered education - Experts in the area of learning have proposed a variety of recipes of inputs and conditions for creating learning-centered education. The ideas of contents, assumptions, and even outcomes are varying with different kinds of people. To me, the idea of learning-centered education is linked with the work of Peter Senge who says that we need to develop new learning capacities through learning organization: (a) creating shared visions, (b) organizing reflective communication and (c) seeing a big picture by using five disciplines of learning. Learning-centered education is based upon new assumptions about goals of education, nature of learning, role of instructions, importance of interdisciplinary approach, development of higher-level attitudes, and importance of assessing reasoning. I have my views to prefer learning-centered education. However, we must appreciate that it is quite difficult to take a position in favor of this recipe.

Learning-centeredness is holistic - Learning processes that are required for our lives are not linear and sequential. We know that the phenomenon of life is holistic in all respects; but unfortunately, we have been treating it differently. Our current methods of learning for our lives are linear and teacher centered. Linear learning methods create fragmentation in our thinking and action. This isolated learning of subjects could not prepare our people for creating harmonious life. Hence, we must stop and replace this fragmentized kind of learning with holistic learning and education. We need to have learning that implies ‘learning to learn’ in depth by covering all possible facets of life. Holistic education will follow continuous learning for whole span of life. The contents of this holistic education will have to have the flavor of life-like and life-wide experiences from different kinds of activities. It is obvious that the new roles will alter - students as teachers; teachers as coaches; parents as role models; community as sources of information; and lastly, the technology as networked project-based learning provider. Schools will alter their narrow frames of logic-cognitive learning to a perspective of multiple intelligences and will respect research findings and use Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (MI) for school budgeting, designing buildings and labs, formulations of curriculum, and recruitments of teachers. Regarding technology, schools will use both face-to-face and web based learning. Electronically enhanced learning environments will become the backbone of worldwide learning.

Learning-centeredness is social and contextual - Within the framework of holistic education, the methods of cooperative-learning will receive high priority. Cooperative learning will imply attention for the formulation of shared visions on continuing basis. Moreover, we must learn to examine our mental models that dictate our thinking and actions. We need to use the skills of critical and creative thinking for examining the mental models. While using cooperative learning, we should redefine the concept of talent and go in for broad based development. Individualistic approach of talent development should not dominate over that of the development of group talent. Moreover, learning process must support high standards for all kinds of learners living on any platform of social reality.

Prof. B.K.Passi - http://www.geocities.com/passibk2000/
Consultant Learning Organization School of Industrial Education Building Room 30201 King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thornburi 91 Sukaswat 48 Road Pracha Utit Bangmod, Toong-Kru Bangkok Thailand Phone Land: 66 2470 8504 Fax: 66 2427 8886
passi.bk@kmutt.ac.th passibk@hotmail.com President of AIAER: 139 Inderpuri, Indore, INDIA 452 017 Phone India +91 731 2477580
Think tank member Prasena http://www.prasena.com/public/think_tank.html

further online work by Professor BK Passi

2003 - AIAER, On Waves and Visions of 4th Wave education
2003 - AIAER, On Research Issues in Peace and Development Education
2004 - During Global Learn Day, November 2004 on Learning Organizations
2004 ongoing - Every year during Creativity Day Passi, Prasena and friends