The multiple meanings of ‘student-centred’ or ‘learner-centred’ education, and the case for a more flexible approach to defining it

Bremner, Nicholas

doi:10.1080/03050068.2020.1805863

Cited by 40 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…For RQ3 ('How do teachers define LCE?') participants were asked to indicate the degree to which they agreed with the 10 potential aspects of LCE that had emerged from the meta-analysis of literature (Bremner, 2020); a 5-point Likert-scale was used from 'Extremely important' to 'Extremely unimportant'. Finally, for RQ4 ('How useful do teachers feel the concept of LCE is to their practice?…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the last few years, an increasing number of texts have attempted to increase clarity on what is meant by the term LCE (Neumann, 2013;Tangney, 2014;Starkey, 2017;Bremner, 2020), with the latter being a meta-analysis of 326 articles in the educational literature. The present study builds upon the findings of this meta-analysis by gathering the perspectives of 248 English language teachers from a range of different countries.…”

Section: Different Meanings Of Learner-centered Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in Bremner (2020), it is important to recognize that this study attempted to explore teachers' understandings of LCE as a concept, and did not aim to explore their views as to whether LCE was desirable or even possible in their contexts. However, as described throughout this article, it was often difficult to detach teachers' theoretical understandings of LCE from their practical evaluations regarding its implementation in real classrooms.…”

Section: Different Meanings Of Learner-centered Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For several decades, there has been a growing recognition that LCE has been defined inconsistently in the literature (Farrington, 1991;Lea, Stephenson, & Troy, 2003;Schweisfurth, 2013). Disagreements about the interpretation of LCE vary from those who have argued that definitions may be missing key points (e.g., Tangney, 2014) to those who have suggested that the term may be too broad to be practically useful (e.g., Bremner, 2020). Neumann (2013) In an attempt to address this confusion, both Neumann (2013) and Starkey (2017) have proposed 3-contoured frameworks for conceptualizing LCE.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, I carried out a meta-analysis of literature that analyzed the definitions of LCE found in 326 journal articles (Bremner, 2020). As a result of the meta-analysis, I proposed either a 6-aspect or 10-aspect flexible framework for conceptualizing LCE, with the idea that different stakeholders could select the aspects that were most relevant to their specific teaching contexts.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is Learner-Centered Education? A Qualitative Study Exploring the Perspectives of English Language Teachers in Colombia

Bremner¹

2022

TESL-EJ

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Despite a recent influx of conceptual studies on the topic of ‘learner-centered education’ (LCE), the term continues to be interpreted inconsistently by a wide range of stakeholders. This study develops previous quantitative work on teachers’ understandings of LCE by exploring the perspectives of 16 Colombian EFL teachers. The methods consisted of semi-structured interviews based on a pre-interview questionnaire, which included both ‘open response’ and ‘closed response’ components. The study found similarities between participants’ views and the findings of previous quantitative research. Participants considered LCE to be a multifaceted term, but placed more emphasis on ‘practical’ classroom-based aspects (‘Active participation’) than those aspects implying changes to teacher-student relationships and epistemology (‘Power sharing’ and ‘Higher order skills’). Certain interpretations of LCE were considered more important by the study participants than is typically evident in the literature (notably ‘Formative assessment’, ‘Metacognition’ and ‘Humanistic role’), suggesting that a wider range of aspects could be taken into account as part of a more flexible approach to defining LCE. Differences were also found between aspects mentioned in participants’ initial ‘open response’ definitions, compared to their later ‘closed response’ questions, which may have implications for future conceptual research exploring stakeholder perspectives.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Different Meanings Of Learner-centered Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Different Meanings Of Learner-centered Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

What is Learner-Centered Education? A Qualitative Study Exploring the Perspectives of English Language Teachers in Colombia

Bremner¹

2022

TESL-EJ

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Connection, connectivity and choice: Learning during COVID‐19 restrictions across mainstream schools and Flexible Learning Programmes in Australia

Plage

Cook

Povey

et al. 2022

Aust J Social Issues

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The COVID‐19 pandemic and associated school closures may have constrained educational participation particularly for students in disadvantaged circumstances. We explore how 30 disadvantaged students in secondary school (14 mainstream/16 Flexible Learning Programme) from Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania experienced home learning during the first wave of COVID‐19, teasing out nuances across two educational models. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with these students, our analysis revealed three interconnected themes inflecting their learning: connection, connectivity and choice. Connection captures the desire for belonging and practices that facilitated meeting this desire during system‐wide disruptions to school routines and face‐to‐face learning. Connectivity captures the impact of digitally facilitated learning at home on students' ability to engage with curriculum content and with their learning community. Choice captures the availability of viable options to overcome barriers students encountered in their learning and possibilities to flexibly accommodate student preferences and learning needs. Students from Flexible Learning Programmes appeared generally better supported to exercise agency within the scope of their lived experience of home‐based learning. Findings indicate a need for strengthening student‐centred policy and practices aimed at leveraging the affordances of information technology, balancing self‐directed and structured learning and providing holistic support to enable meaningful student choice.

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Do we have to rethink inclusive pedagogies for secondary schools? A critical systematic review of the international literature

Koutsouris,

Bremner,

Stentiford

2023

British Educational Res J

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This article builds on the findings of a critical systematic review that aimed to explore understandings and applications of inclusive pedagogies in the secondary school. Inclusive pedagogies are often conceptualised as both a set of strategies that aim to ensure access to learning for all students, and as value principles that reflect particular views on inclusion; this is why they tend to be approached in diverse ways. We were particularly interested in secondary school as the focus on particular curricular areas and subjects, additional pressures for teachers and students derived from assessment and exams, and fewer opportunities for collaboration between teachers as a result of the compartmentalisation of the curriculum can make the implementation of inclusive pedagogies more challenging than at primary level. Six databases were searched for literature published exploring inclusive pedagogies in the context of secondary school. We found that inclusive pedagogies were often filtered through the lenses of particular subjects and were associated with other approaches with similar philosophies, such as differentiation and student‐centred learning; that student perceptions of inclusive pedagogies are still little explored; and that tensions associated with inclusion were only acknowledged to some extent. Based on the findings, we argue for a refined way of understanding inclusive pedagogies in the secondary school context, one that acknowledges the unique characteristics, challenges and tensions at this school level. The review findings also affirm the ‘messiness’ of the inclusion literature and raise questions as to the relevance and usefulness of systematic reviews in exploring this fragmented topic.

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The multiple meanings of ‘student-centred’ or ‘learner-centred’ education, and the case for a more flexible approach to defining it

Abstract: Bremner, N. (2021) 'The multiple meanings of 'studentcentred' or 'learner-centred' education, and the case for a more flexible approach to defining it', Comparative Education, 57 (2), pp. 159-186.

Cited by 40 publications

References 25 publications

What is Learner-Centered Education? A Qualitative Study Exploring the Perspectives of English Language Teachers in Colombia

What is Learner-Centered Education? A Qualitative Study Exploring the Perspectives of English Language Teachers in Colombia

Connection, connectivity and choice: Learning during COVID‐19 restrictions across mainstream schools and Flexible Learning Programmes in Australia

Do we have to rethink inclusive pedagogies for secondary schools? A critical systematic review of the international literature

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