Teacher-centered education
In teacher-centered education, students put all of their focus on the
teacher. You talk, and the students exclusively listen. During activities,
students work alone, and collaboration is discouraged.
Pros
• When education is teacher-centered, the classroom remains orderly. Students are quiet, and you retain full control of the classroom and its activities.
• Because students learn on their own, they learn independence and make their own decisions.
•
Because you direct
all classroom activities, you don‘t have to worry that students will miss an
important topic.
Cons
•
When students work
alone, they don‘t learn to collaborate with other students, and their
communication skills may suffer.
•
Teacher-centered
instruction can be boring for students. Their minds may wander, and they may
miss important facts.
•
Teacher-centered
instruction doesn‘t allow students to express themselves, ask questions, and
direct their own learning.
Student-centered instruction
When a classroom operates with student-centered instruction, students
and instructors share the focus. Instead of listening to the teacher
exclusively, students and teachers interact equally. Group work is encouraged,
and students learn to collaborate and communicate with one another.
Pros
•
Students learn
important communicative and collaborative skills through group work.
•
Students learn to
direct their own learning, ask questions, and complete tasks independently.
•
Students are more
interested in learning activities when they can interact with one another and
participate actively.
Cons
•
Because students are
talking, classrooms may often be noisy or chaotic.
•
Teachers may have to
attempt to manage all students‘ activities at once, which can be difficult when
students are working on different stages of the same project.
•
Because the teacher
doesn‘t always deliver instruction to all students at once, some students may
miss important facts.
•
Some students prefer
to work alone, so group work can become problematic.