Teaching Autonomy The impact on Learners, Teachers and Schools Activity 1: Teacher-centred attitudes versus student-centred attitudes Justify your choices in pairs 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

‘the ability to take charge of one’s own learning.’ Autonomy: ‘the ability to take charge of one’s own learning.’ Holec, H/Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning/1981 What is autonomy? 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

3 Major Schools of Thought: Autonomy is - 1. A Personal Characteristic ‘essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological relation to the process and content of learning’ Little, D/1990 2. A Political Concept ‘a recognition of the rights of learners within educational systems’ Benson, P/1997 3. An Educational Framework ‘an approach to educational practice.’ Boud, D/1988 A personal characteristic – relies on attitude towards learning, previous experience of learning, and personality A political concept – one’s rights as a learner within a country and a recognition of the rights of a “non-native” speaker of English in relation to a native speaker within the global order of English An educational framework – refers to ‘an active participant in the social processes of classroom learning, an active interpreter of new information in terms of what he /she already knows. Look at the dates – this is not new. It has been around as a concept for over 30 years. So, what is stopping Learner Autonomy from becoming part of the curriculum in most schools. Establishing Self-Access page 6 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

Adult Learners learn better when they... ... value their own experience as a resource for further learning ... are involved in developing learning objectives ... react to all experience as they perceive it ... enter into learning activities with an organised set of descriptions and feelings ... are more concerned with whether they are changing in the direction of their own idealised self-concept ... can process the information through multiple channels and have learnt ‘how to learn’ ... feel that the content is personally relevant Brundage & MacKeracher/1980 ...or whose experience is valued by others ...for themselves which are congruent with their current and idealised self-concept ...not as the teacher presents it ...about themselves which influence the learning process ...than whether they are meeting standards and objectives set for them by others ...are the most productive learners ...to past experience, present concerns and the learning process is relevant to life experiences Adults learn best when novel information is presented through a variety of sensory modes and experiences, with sufficient repetition and variation on a theme to allow distinct patterns to emerge The Learner Centred Curriculum page 22 Activity 2 – which is not a characteristic of an Autonomous Learner? 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

Characteristics of an Autonomous Learner The first hurdle is the Learner themselves. They must master a variety of difficult skills in order to become an autonomous learner What does a student need to have in order to be an autonomous learner? Adapted from Learner Autonomy/Scharle & Scazbo page 8 - 10 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

Stages in the Process of Developing Learner Responsibility Learner Autonomy/Scharle & Szabo/2000 For most students this means a change in how they view the role of the student and the teacher. Raising awareness – present a new viewpoint, encourage them to bring the inner processes of learning to the conscious level of their thinking, most activities are tightly structured and teacher controlled. At this stage we assume that the learners are not yet responsible and need to be told Changing attitude – the next step is to practice the skills introduced in the previous stage. This is a slow process requiring a lot of practice especially as it involves breaking away from old patterns of behaviour Transferring roles – requires considerable change in class management. The activities are loosely structured and give the students considerable amounts of freedom in accomplishing the tasks and deciding about tasks A similar process has to be gone through by teachers who wish to teach Learner Autonomy Learner Autonomy page 9 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

A teacher must: Understand that they are no longer ‘in control’ Have an understanding of how languages are learned Know how to carry out an effective needs analysis for each student Have a good understanding of learner styles and strategies Have course planning skills Understand the constraints laid down by the school and the product sold to the student The qualities a teacher must develop when thinking about teaching. 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

A teacher needs to: Be able to communicate the benefits of autonomous learning to the students Know how to balance learner expectations with learner autonomy Understand the needs of the students at a communicative level Negotiate a syllabus with the students Create the right environment and tasks which may be at odds with the procedures of the schools they teach in Carry all these out within the goals of the institution The qualities a teacher must develop when thinking about a class of students. These are long lists of skills which the teacher may have had very little training in. 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

jeantheuma@hotmail.com 07/09/2012 A teacher is not simply someone who regurgitates information. No wonder many teachers shy away from incorporating features of Learner Autonomy into their lessons! 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

Teachers need help in... ...developing their Needs-Assessment skills ...understanding course guidelines ...course planning ...bilingual help in negotiating with students ...continuity ...educational counselling ...conflict resolution ...teacher role specifications Bartlett & Butler cited in Nunan/2000 ACIVITY 3: read and add more suggestions ACTIVITY 4: Teachers need the help and support of the schools they work for in order to gain more training. So how do the school set ups help with this? 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

Does this school sound familiar? There are constraints on the times teachers can take their students out The school sells a package/product to the client Teachers should not leave the classroom mid-lesson Students are given a book There is a system of progress tests Teachers prepare a Plan of Work at the beginning of the week School has a cafe, shop, computer & reception area, classrooms & offices There are restrictions on the photocopies a teacher can produce The classrooms have tables, chairs, a board, a notice board and a CD player In groups, discuss the impact of these features on an Autonomous Learner. 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com

Please contact me for this presentation: Thank you Please contact me for this presentation: jeantheuma@hotmail.com 07/09/2012 jeantheuma@hotmail.com jeantheuma@hotmail.com