Student-Centered Teaching: What’s Practical for New Teachers?

Whenever a new instructional strategy or philosophy is introduced (forced on?) teachers, the results can be less-than-stellar.  Either teachers feel guilty for not completely changing their style to adapt to the latest fad.  Or teachers are frustrated because yet another educational reform fails to address modern classroom realities.  In my opinion, “student-centered teaching”, while well-meaning and philosophically sound, is one of those reforms.

To bring much-needed nuance into the student-centered conversation, we aim to do the following: 

1. Examine common characteristics of a student-centered classroom. 
2. Discuss the limitations of each component of student-centered teaching 
3. Offer practical tips for dipping your toe into the student-centered world as a new teacher

Student-centered teaching emphasizes student choice.  Exactly how much choice do we need to offer?

A quick description of student-centered teaching:

Student-centered teaching emphasizes choice — in what is learned and how it is learned — for the learner.  The teacher’s role is that of a guide, facilitator, or coach. Student-centered classrooms rely on fewer teacher-directed activities, such as lectures or guided practice. 

Student-centered teaching gives students choices in:

• What they learn
• How and why they are learning it
• How they demonstrate that learning

The goal of student-centered classrooms is to encourage students to have greater agency in their learning.  On the face of it, student-centered teaching sounds wonderful.

But before you go “all in” on student-centered teaching, be aware of its practical limitations. 

3 Ways to Get Started with a Student-Centered Approach

#1: In a student-centered classroom, students choose what and how they learn.

A hallmark of student-centered teaching centers around the learner choosing what to study.  There are two benefits to student choice.  First, the learner assumes an elevated, active role in the educational process.  Second, the responsibility for learning is shifted to the student.

Limitations:

In the real world, most teachers must follow state, district, site, or departmental standards.  It isn’t feasible to regularly give students autonomy over the curriculum.  

In my observations, I see teachers working hard to incorporate student choice when possible. It’s impractical to expect teachers to create individualized curriculum and instruction based on every student’s interests. 

Also, let’s be real: Not every student is inherently fascinated by every topic.  The interests of a teenager are important, and so too is exposure to new and unfamiliar ideas.  Just because a student doesn’t see the value in a basic understanding of geometry or the Civil War (to name two examples) doesn’t mean they may not find that connection later on.  

Realistic implementation for new teachers:

• Select one assignment that lends itself to several choices.  In English class, students select one character from a novel to analyze.  In Science, students choose one ecosystem to study.  Once you find success with one assignment, try another one.

The philosophy behind student-centered instruction is sound, but students need support before autonomous learning can take place.

#2:  Student-centered classrooms put students in charge of their learning.

A student-centered approach changes the teacher’s role.  Power is shifted to the students while you serve as a facilitator.  This can result in a greater connection to the content for students.  Learning becomes more authentic and more meaningful.

Limitations:

Placing students in charge of their learning requires scaffolding.  When students get to the secondary level, they are most familiar with teacher-led instruction.  Students are well-versed in the “rules” of academia: follow directions and do what they’re told to complete the assigned tasks.     

Schools must explicitly teach students to be responsible for their learning.  If this work isn’t done beforehand, the result is frustration for you and your students.

Realistic implementation for new teachers:

• Set clear expectations for how class time should be spent during student-centered activities.
• Ask students to create learning goals and provide time to reflect on those goals. 
• Require students to seek help from classmates before immediately relying on you for help (systems such as “Ask three before me”).
• Encourage a culture of growth in which mistakes are part of the process.

#3 A student-centered approach lets students take an active role in creating rubrics to measure achievement.

Student-centered learning is highly metacognitive.  Students think about what and how they want to learn.  Afterward, they reflect on the extent to which they learned it.   

Limitations:

Creating an assessment — for example, a rubric — is a complex task.  Do students fully understand the skill or content knowledge their work should demonstrate? Can they articulate the assessment criteria  Ultimately, yes.  But it takes teacher-led instruction to get to that point.

Co-creating rubrics should come only after students have a strong understanding of rubrics and assessment as a whole.

Realistic implementation for new teachers:

• Have students interact with teacher-created rubrics first.  For some classes, this may be for the majority of the school year.
• Slowly release responsibility to students to fill in sections of the rubric.  For example, ask students to articulate the success criteria for one component of a project rubric.
• Work up to students creating one rubric on their own at the end of the year.  Schools with strong teams across grade levels can build on the work done in previous years.

Three takeaways on student-centered instruction

1. At its core, student-centered teaching is a positive evolution in education.  Student ownership of the learning process is a worthy goal.  We want students to be excited and passionate about what they’re doing in our classrooms.  

2. An all-or-nothing approach to student-centered teaching isn’t practical.  The teacher is still the highly-trained expert in the room.  Students need steady and skillful support to transition away from the traditional teacher-centered model.  

3. As a new teacher, continually reflect on your lessons.  Look for opportunities to slowly shift control to your students.  Ultimately, you’ll decide how much student-centeredness is right for your students. 

Amanda Melsby has been a professional educator for 20 years.  She taught English before working as an assistant principal and later as a high school principal.  Amanda holds an Ed.D. in Educational Practice and Leadership and is currently a dean of teaching and learning.