FOUNDATIONS FOR LEARNER-CENTEREDEDUCATION: A KNOWLEDGE BASE

KENNETn T. HENSON, DEANSchool of Education

The Citadel Military College of South Carolina

Charleston, SC 29409-0063

Learner-centered education has a long history of development.Two of the first educators to put emphasis on the learner wereConfucius and Socrates (5th to 4th centuries B.C.). Over twomillennia passed before seventeenth century Englishman JohnLocke introduced experiential education (the idea that one learnsthrough experience). Another two hundred years passed beforeEuropean educators Pestalozzi, Hegel, Herbart, and Froebeldesigned and popularized experience-based, learner-centeredcuircula.

A century later, nineteenth century educator Colonel FrancisParker brought this method to America. Twentieth century Russ-ian sociologist Lev Vygotsky, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget,and American philosopher and educator John Dewey shaped theexisting learner-centered education into a program called con-structivism. This article traces this development and examinesthe major contributions of each of these educators.

Learner-Centered Education:A Definition*

The Citadel has for its conceptualframework Learner-Centered education.This is a fluid theoretical model which issubject to change, and, indeed, does con-tinuously change as the faculty continuesto redefine this term. The following state-ment was the basis for The Citadel'soriginal concept of learner-centered edu-cation.

Learner-Centered Education isdefined by McCombs and Whisler(1997, p.9) as: The perspective thatcouples a focus on individuallearners (their heredity, experiences,perspectives, backgrounds,talents, interests, capacities, andneeds) with a focus on learning(the best available knowledge about

learning and how it occurs andabout teaching practices that aremost effective in promoting thehighest levels of motivation, learn-ing, and achievement for alllearners.)This dual focus, then, informs anddrives educational decision-making.

In this perspective, learner-centerededucation involves the learner and learn-ing in the programs, policies, and teachingthat support effective learning for all stu-dents. Administrators are responsible fordeveloping, maintaining and enhancing aschool environment that enhances effec-tive learning. They are also responsible forensuring that teachers are knowledgeableabout their students and about how learn-ing occurs best. Teachers are responsiblefor having classrooms that promote effec-

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tive learning for all and for being familiarwith the instructional techniques that pro-mote effective learning for all. Schoolcounselors are concerned with improvingboth the conditions for learning (parenteducation, classroom environment, teacherattitude) and with helping each learnerdevelop to his/her fullest potential. Thefollowing five premises support these asser-tions.

1. Learners have distinctive perspectivesor frames of reference, contributed to bytheir history, the environment, theirinterests and goals, their beliefs, theirways of thinking and the like. Thesemust be attended to and respected iflearners are to become more activelyinvolved in the learning process and toultimately become independentthinkers.

2. Learners have unique differences,including emotional states of mind,learning rates, learning styles, stages ofdevelopment, abilities, talents, feelingsof efficacy, and other needs. These mustbe taken into account if all learners areto learn more effectively and efficient-ly.

3. Learning is a process that occurs bestwhen what is being learned is relevantand meaningful to the learner and whenthe learner is actively engaged in cre-ating his or her own knowledge andunderstanding by connecting what isbeing learned with prior knowledge andexperience.

4. Learning occurs best in an environmentthat contains positive interpersonal rela-tionships and interactions and in whichthe learner feels appreciated, acknowl-edged, respected, and validated.

5. Learning is seen as a fundamentally nat-ural process; learners are viewed asnaturally curious and basically inter-ested in learning about and masteringtheir world.* Taken from The Citadel Undergrad-uate Catalog (2002-2003, p. 207)

Central emphasis and understandingemerge from an integrated and holisticexamination of a learner-centeredapproach. For educational systems to servethe needs of every learner, it is essential thatevery instructional decision focuses on theindividual learner - with an understand-ing of the learning process.

The history of learner-centered educa-tion has one foot in philosophy and theother in psychology. Following is a cur-sory review of some of the importantcontributions of educational philosophy tothe development of learner-centered edu-cation followed by a review of some of themost important contributions of educa-tional psychology. This section, titled"Philosophical Knowledge Base" will befollowed by a similar section titled "Psy-chological Knowledge Base."

Philosophical Knowledge BaseSigns of learner-centered education

began appearing with the dawning of edu-cation, and formal education can be tracedback to the Sumerians and the develop-ment of written language (around 3500B.C.). Within 500 years, the Chinese hadalso established formal schools. Theseearly teachers emphasized individual char-acter and citizenship.

Perhaps the earliest individual teachersto have a profound, direct effect on learn-er-centered education were the Chinese

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philosopher Confucius (551 B.C.-479 B.C.)and the Greek philosopher Socrates (469-399 B.C.). Confucius stressed characterand good citizenship, and Socrates stressedthe individual. (His maxim was "Knowthyself.") "Confucius believed that everyperson should strive for the continual devel-opment of self until excellence is achieved(Ozmon & Craver, 1999, p. 105).

Englishman Francis Bacon (1561-1626)introduced the scientific method as a wayof thinking and learning, which was oppo-site to the way Aristotle had taught peopleto think. Bacon took exception with theAlistotelian method, which had dominat-ed for almost two millennia and remainedthe popular method of the day. Aristotlebegan his thinking by making assumptions,and assumptions introduce thinking errors.Realizing that this convergent method wasflawed, Bacon warned that if we begin ourthinking with certainties, we end with ques-tions, but if we begin with questions, weend with certainties. He insisted that werid ourselves of four idols, which cloud ourthinking. Bacon said that our thinking islimited by our lack of experience (Idol ofthe Den), by what others believe (Idol ofthe Tribes), by unclear language (Idol of theMarket Place), and the by influence of reli-gion and philosophies (Idol of the Theatre).To escape these errors, Bacon insisted thatwe use problem solving, which begins notwith uncontested assumptions but withdivergent or inductive thinking, consider-ing all possibilities.

The earliest known formal teachingmethod was the tutorial method. For fivethousand years, the tutorial method con-tinued to dominate. Although Englishphilosopher John Locke (1632-1704) rec-

ommended its use, he introduced the con-cept, tabula rasa or blank slate, proposingthat at birth the mind is a blank slate, andthe only way to fill it is through havingexperiences, feeling these experiences, andreflecting on them. Locke's experience-based educational philosophy gave birthto a concept called experiential education.In answering the question as to where themind gets its understanding, Locke (SeeGarforth, 1964) in his work, An Essay Con-cerning Human Understanding, replied,'To this I answer in one word, EXPERI-ENCE.' (1690, p. 42)

The Swiss-born philosopher JeanJacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was one ofhistory's greatest contradictions. With thebirth of his own children, he gave awayeach child; yet, perhaps no one else hasever done so much to help children. In hisadopted country, France, as perhaps wastrue universally at the time, children wereseen as small adults. Even worse, theywere treated so. Rousseau understood thatsuch treatment was unnatural and damag-ing to children. After tutoring a boy namedEmile, and Emile's sister (Sophie),Rousseau wrote a book titled Emile.

In his book Emile Rousseau recom-mended a type of education that at the timewas unknown, an education that was nat-ural, child-centered, and experience-based.His intent was to protect the children froma corrupting society and permit them todevelop naturally. Emile was given thefreedom to explore and interact with nature.When Emile behaved inappropriately, hispunishment was administered by nature,not by his tutor. On one occasion, Emilebroke out a window pane in his bedroom.Instead of giving him a whipping, which

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was the common response to misbehavior,Rousseau ignored the event and let himexperience the resulting cold wind and rain.Rousseau's book Emile quickly became,and has since remained, the most widelyread education book of all times.

Influenced by Rousseau's writings, aEuropean neighbor in Switzerland designeda learner-centered school. In Switzerland,Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827) opened aschool with a learner-centered curriculum.Pestalozzi believed that the whole childshould be educated (physically, mentally,and emotionally), and that children shouldbe nourished like a plant while they learnedby doing. Pestalozzi believed that teach-ers must respect children and base theirdiscipline on love. He said that the schoolshould be like a good home and the teachershould be like a good parent. Pestalozzi'sschool succeeded educationally but failedfinancially. In Germany, Friedrick Froebelused the learner-centered, child-centered,experience-based ideas to develop theworld's first kindergarten, a school foryoung children.

In the early nineteenth century, ThomasJefferson (See Ikenberry, 1974, p. 1 14)echoed concern for both society and theindividual:

If a nation expects to be igno-rant and free in a state of civilization,it expects what never was and neverwill be. There is no safe deposit forthe functions of government but withthe people themselves nor can theybe safe without information.(Thomas Jefferson 1816)

But a half-century passed before Amer-ican educators became serious overlearner-centered education. At the end ofthe Civil War, a soldier and teacher namedColonel Francis Parker returned to hishome state of New Hampshire where hefirst accepted some short-term politicalassignments and later, in 1865, accepted aprincipalship in Manchester. Three yearslater (1868), unhappy with the rote mem-orization that characterized schools at thattime, Parker accepted a principalship inDayton, Ohio, where he headed the firstNormal School, giving demonstrationlessons to help teachers learn how to uselearner-centered methods. But Parkerfound Americans slow to embrace learner-centered education. Finding the climaterigid, he said that the residents of the areawere attached like barnacles to the oldermethods. (Campbell, 1967)

Colonel Parker had heard about someEuropeans who as long as a century earli-er had begun implementing learner-centerededucation, including Pestalozzi (1746-1827), Hegel (1770-1831), Herbart(1776-1841), and Froebel (1782-1852). In1872, Parker went to Berlin to pursue anacademic degree; however, his main goalwas to learn directly from the Europeansabout their learner-centered education.When told that the courses he had chosenwould not lead to a degree, his response(See Campbell, 1967, p.68) was, "But theydo lead to the children of America."

In 1875 Parker accepted a superinten-dency position in Quincy, Massachusetts,where he gave model learner-centeredlessons in all seven Quincy schools. Healso held district-wide teachers' meetingswhere he demonstrated learner-centered

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techniques to the teachers. By replacingdrill with inquiry activities, Parker replacedmemorization of facts with understanding.The school board was divided over sup-port for the new reform. The New YorkTribune (Editorial Our Schools, Jan. 1880)sent a reporter who credited the Quincysystem with being the "starting point inthe reorganization of the deplorable Amer-ican system." But the criticism onlyincreased the school's reputation. An esti-mated 30,000 people visited the Quincyschools between 1878 and 1880. (SeeCampbell, 1967, p. 99)

In 1880, the Boston School Board per-suaded Parker to bring his "QuincySystem" to the Boston schools. Whenasked to define this system, the commit-tee said, "In a word it may be said regardingthe whole system, the pupil is treated lesslike a machine, and more like a child."

In 1882, hearing of Parker's successwith the Boston schools, a representativeof the Cook County Normal School nearChicago asked him to take over the insti-tution. He accepted, and by the 1890's hehad worked out his theory of education,which he called the Theory of Concentra-tion; "the leading point (in this theory) wasthat all effort should be centered on thechild rather than on the subject matter."(See Parker, 1901, p.130)

In 1899 Parker's health was failingwhen he accepted the position as Head ofthe Chicago Institute, Academic and Ped-agogic. In 1901, the ten year-oldUniversity of Chicago established a Schoolof Education, acquired the normal school,and made Parker its first dean. JohnDewey, who was head of the Departmentof Philosophy, Psychology, and Pedagogy,

would remain in this position. In 1900,Parker returned to New Hampshire andopened a new school the next year. Twoyears later, at age 65, Col. Frances Parkerdied.

John Dewey (1859-1952) used his verylong life (92 years) to exert more influenceon education and philosophy than any otherAmerican, before or since. Dewey wasinfluenced by Locke's tabula rasa, Bacon'sscientific method, Immanuel Kant's prag-matism (the idea that philosophy is onlyvaluable if one can apply it), CharlesPeirce's (1839-1914) insistence on the clar-ification of ideas and his belief that one'smental grasp of any idea depends on theunification of the idea in actual experience,and William James' (1842-1910) beliefsthat truth is inseparable from experienceand that experience, like life itself, is astream of sequential events.

Dewey's works were made powerfulbecause he recognized that each child hasboth a psychological dimension and asocial dimension and to be effective, edu-cation must begin with understanding howthe child's capacities, interests, and habitscan be directed to help the child succeedin the community. In opposition toRousseau, who wanted to protect childrenfrom society, Dewey (1897, Jan.) believedthat the only way a child would develop toits potential was in a social setting. Hebelieved that the school should be a micro-cosm of its community and that educationis living, not just a preparation for life.

Dewey viewed life as a process of con-tinuous renewal, a series of on-goingexperiments. At the University of Chica-go, he created the nation's first laboratoryschool, whose curriculum was a series of

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problem-solving activities. (See Campbell,1967) Dewey's laboratory school becameso popular that eventually every state hadone or more laboratory schools. Unfortu-nately, to cut back on expenses, most ofthese highly successful learning commu-nities have been eliminated and most ofthe approximately one hundred survivinglaboratory schools have abolished the sec-ondary grades. For a list of these schoolsand for further information about labora-tory schools, see National Association ofLaboratory Schools (1991).

Dewey's (1938, p. 97) view of learner-centered education embraced the idea thateducation should be both problem-basedand fun, "Unless a given experience leadsout into a field of previously unfamiliar noproblems arise, while problems are the stim-ulus to thinking." On the surface, thiscomment, taken from his book Experienceand Education, may appear to suggest thatthe curriculum should be highly sequentialwith all the content and experiences mappedout, but this would be a gross misinterpre-tation because Dewey believed that theexperiences of each learner must come fromwithin each individual learner. Dewey wassaying that each experience should leaveeach student motivated and that the solvingof each problem must lead to new, relatedquestions about the topic. (Dewey, 1938, p.48)

Another idea that enabled Dewey toadvance the theory of learner-centered edu-cation was his recognition of what he calledcollateral learning, an idea that has sincebeen labeled confluent learning. Confluentor collateral learning recognizes that therichest learning involves our emotions, andDewey (1938, p. 48) considered this type of

learner-centered education the richest of all.Collateral learning in the way ofinformation of enduring attitudes, oflikes and dislikes, may be and oftenis much more important than thespelling lessons or lesson in geog-raphy or history that is learned. Forthese attitudes are fundamentallywhat count in the future. The mostimportant attitude that can be formedis the desire to go on learning.

Learner-centered education wasadvanced by the Progressive EducationAssociation, which was formed in 1919.The Progressive Movement flourished untilthe United States entered World War II, in1941. A massive evaluation of the learn-er-centered approach to education, knownas the "Eight Year Study," was conductedfrom 1932 until 1940. The study foundthis approach equal or superior to tradi-tional education in every way. Some ofthe advantages of learner-centered educa-tion over the traditional teacher-centerededucation included the students':

* attaining higher grades* attaining more academic honors* developing superior intellectual

curiosity* developing superior creativity* developing superior drive* developing superior leadership skills* becoming more aware of world events* developing more objectivity

Unfortunately, with the Russian'slaunching of Sputnik in October 1957,many critics blamed the "progressive"learner-centered education for letting

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American schools fall behind in the spacerace, and these critics rallied for a returnto the traditional basic education.

While all of the philosophers mentionedin the previous section focused on the learn-er, and some addressed conditions neededfor learning to occur, these scholars werephilosophers, and the role of philosophyis neither to prescribe or direct behaviorbut to effect thinking. Therefore, any seri-ous discussion of learner-centerededucation must include an examination ofthe psychologists' views on learning andteaching. One might assume that to beconsidered a serious and legitimate theo-ry of education, learner-centered educationshould have a psychological knowledgebase to support it. Following is a briefglimpse of some of the psychological the-ory and understandings that supportlearner-centered education.

Learner-Centered Education: APsychological Base

During the 20 century, several psy-chological developments influenced thedevelopment of learner-centered educa-tion. Paramount among these were thedevelopments of perceptual psychology,constructivism, and dispositions. Follow-ing is a brief discussion of each.

The Role of Perception in LearnerCentered Education

In the mid-twentieth century, a consid-erable amount of research and thought wasgiven by psychologists to the effect thatperception has on behavior and ultimate-ly to the power that perception has to shapethe kinds of people learners will become.In 1962, Arthur Combs (1962) edited the

yearbook of the Association for Supervi-sion and Curriculum Development, titledPerceiving, Behaving, Becoming, whichsays that if students perceive themselves asgood students and worthy individuals, theywill work hard to protect these images;however, if they perceive themselves aspoor students and people of little value,they will behave accordingly. Teachershave tremendous power to shape their stu-dents' behaviors and futures by the waythey treat them. Interestingly, teachers usu-ally are not very aware of how they treattheir students. For example, Good andBrophy (1997, pp.90-91) list several waysthat teachers unknowingly treat high andlow achievers differently:

1. Waiting less time for lows to answer aquestion (before giving the answer orcalling on someone else)

2. Giving lows answers or calling onsomeone else rather than trying toimprove their responses by giving cluesor repeating or rephrasing questions

3. Inappropriate reinforcement: reward-ing inappropriate behavior or incorrectanswers by lows

4. Criticizing lows more often for failure5. Praising lows less often for success6. Failing to give feedback to the public

responses of lows7. Generally paying less attention to lows

or interacting with them less frequent-ly

8. Calling on lows less often to respondto questions, or asking them only easi-er, nonanalytic questions

9. Seating lows farther away from theteacher

10. Demanding less from lows (e.g., teach

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less, gratuitous praise, excessive offersof help)

11. Interacting with lows more privatelythan publicly, and monitoring andstructuring their activities moreclosely

12. Differential administration or gradingof tests or assignments, in which highsbut not lows are given the benefit ofthe doubt in borderline cases

13. Less friendly interactions with lows,including less smiling and fewer othernonverbal indicators of support

14. Briefer and less informative feedbackto questions of lows

15. Less eye contact and other nonverbalcommunication of attention andresponsiveness (forward lean, positivehead nodding) in interaction with lows

16. Less use of effective but time-consuming instructional methods withlows when time is limited

17. Less acceptance and use of lows' ideas18. Exposing lows to an impoverished cur

riculum (overly limited and repetitivecontent, emphasis on factual recitationrather than on lesson-extending discussion, emphasis on drill and practice tasks rather than on applicationand higher-level tasks).

Combs (1962) and his colleaguesexplored the process by which young peo-ple grow up to be psychologically healthyand become the type of adults that theycall adequate people. These perceptualpsychologists say that a term that all teach-ers should know well is efficacy becausehighly successful teachers have a stiongsense of efficacy toward their students andtoward themselves; they believe that their

students are capable of succeeding at ahigh level and that they are capable ofensuring that they do. Learner-centeredteachers can nurture the development ofpositive self-concepts by: (1) assigningproblems that challenge students but arewithin their abilities, (2) encouraging themto succeed, and (3) recognizing their suc-cesses.

In this same book, (Combs 1962, p. 99)Combs' own mentor, Carl Rogers explainsthat "Self and personality emerge fromexperience." According to perceptual psy-chologists, learner-centered education isessential for healthy development. Combs'contemporary, Earl Kelly (1962, p. 118),says "The growing self must feel that it isinvolved, that it is really part of what isgoing on, that in some degree it is helpingshape its own destiny, together with thedestiny of all." These comments echo thevery nature of learner-centered education,explaining the need to put the student in thecenter of learning and in an active role,and, firthermore, as Kelly indicated; whenstudents are engaged in activities that nur-ture their development, they can even helpshape the destiny of their classmates.

But to nurture positive self-develop-ment, the classroom must be relatively freeof risks and fear. The competition thatcharacterizes most classrooms must bereplaced with cooperation. Becoming anadequate person addresses both of the tworoles that John Dewey believed to be themost important goals for all schools: devel-oping the individual and developingcitizenship. Learner-centered educationis an excellent means of achieving bothgoals, Combs said, (1962, p. 198) "Ade-quate persons usually possess a deep sense

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of duty or responsibility and are likely tobe democratic in the fullest sense of theword."

In his book Democracy and education,Dewey said that with each generationdemocracy must be reborn and that edu-cation is the mid-wife for this rebirthing.Clearly, like Thomas Jefferson, Dewey saweducation as essential to maintain a demo-cratic society. But, the relation betweendemocracy and education is reciprocal andsymbiotic; just as education is essential tohaving a democracy, democracy is a pre-requisite to education.

Garrison (2003) said, Democracyfunctions to reconstruct and renewmeaning as any society focused onmerely transmitting the status quowill not.. .As education transmitssociety's values and institutions,democracy in action promotes therenewal of their meaning. (p. 527-528)

Constructivism: A New Look atLearner-Centered Education

Constructivism is a learner-centerededucational theory that contends that tolearn anything, each learner must constructhis or her own understanding by tying newinformation to prior experiences. Con-structivism has two sub-groups, one whichfocuses on the interaction among students,the other focusing on each student's per-ceptions.

A Focus on Social InteractionDuring the early part of the twentieth

century, a Russian psychologist and soci-ologist named Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

studied children's interactions. He sawthat when students worked in small groupsto solve problems, by discussing problems,the learners were able to talk each otherthrough to the solutions, which is to say thatby helping other group members, they col-lectively solved problems more efficientlythan they could solve them when workingalone. He called this social learningapproach "negotiating meaning."

Vygotsky used a system, which now isknown as cooperative learning, to encour-age cooperation within each learninggroup. To receive a good mark on any task,the members had to successfully help theirfellow group members understand and suc-ceed at the task. This system is in sharpcontrast to traditional education in thiscountry in that it is not teacher-centeredbut is learner-centered; not passive butactive and problem-centered; and is based,not on competition but on cooperation.

Because constructivists believe thatindividuals must construct their ownknowledge, they believe that all knowl-edge is temporary (each concept isconsidered true until further experiencesenable the learner to refine it). Becauselearners in constructivist classrooms use aproblem- centered approach, content isstudied not as isolated facts but as broadconcepts and interdisciplinary themes.

A Focus on the Individual LearnerAnother leading psychologist who con-

tributed significantly to constructivisimwas the Swiss educator Jean Piaget. Bornin 1896 (the same year that Vygotsky wasborn), Piaget focused his attention on thelearner as an individual. While many maynot think of him as a constructivist, hiswork consisted of giving his students (usu-

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ally his own three children) problems tosolve, not written problems but problemsthat encouraged them to manipulate con-crete objects. He watched the ways theymanipulated the objects and saw that eachlearner made assumptions and drew rightor wrong conclusions about -the objects.That Piaget was, indeed, a constructivist ofthe first order is reflected in the title of hisbook, To Understand Is to Invent. For fur-ther discussion on constructivism, seeHenson 2004; Henson 2001; and Hensonand Eller 1999.

DispositionsThe review of literature supporting

learner-centered education suggests sev-eral important dispositions including: (1)education should be experience-based, (2)each individual learner's own unique qual-ities and dispositions should be consideredwhen planning experiences, (3) the learn-er's perceptions should shape thecurriculum, (4) learner's curiosity shouldbe fed and nurtured, (5) learning is bestwhen it involves the emotions, and (6) thelearning environment should be free fromfear. Following is a brief discussion ofeach of these dispositions.

Disposition #1 Education should beexperience-based. John Locke believedthat the only way an individual can learnis through experience. Lev Vygotskybelieved that all learning involves tyingnew information to prior experiences.Bacon, Montessori, Rousseau, Froebel,and Piaget believed that the best experi-ence occurs when learners aremanipulating objects and solving prob-lems. John Dewey is known for his

expression, "Learning by doing," anexpression used a century earlier by JohnLocke.

Disposition #2 Each individual learn-er's own unique qualities and dispositionsshould be considered when planning a cur-riculum. Locke, (See Garforth, 1964, p.167) believing that the planning of educa-tional experiences should begin byfocusing on the leaner, "A good disposi-tion should be talked into them before theybe set upon anything." Locke recom-mended that teachers observe their studentsto learn their dispositions. By doing so, thecurriculum can be personalized to meeteach student's needs.

Disposition #3 The learner's percep-tions should shape the curriculum. In hiswork titled Conduct of Understanding,Locke (See Garforth, 1964, p. 12)expressed the important role that percep-tion plays in learning: "knowledge isseeing.. .till we ourselves see it with ourown eyes and perceive it by our own under-standings, we are so much in the dark andas void of knowledge as before." Learn-er-centered teachers must learn to view thecurriculum through the learners' percep-tions.

Disposition #4 Learners' curiosityshould be fed and nurtured. Locke under-stood that curiosity is the engine that driveslearning. He advised that teachers alwaysanswer students' questions and when doingso, listen not to the learners' words but tothe learners' thoughts. Dewey (1938, pp.47 & 49) clearly used learner activities tonurture learner curiosity. "In a certain sense

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every experience should do something toprepare a person for later experiences of adeeper and more expensive quality.. .Themost important attitude that can be formedis that of desire to go on learning." (p. 49)

Disposition #5 Learning is best whenit involves emotions. As mentioned ear-lier, Dewey (1938, p. 49) wrote about"collateral learning," or learning thatinvolves the emotions. "Perhaps the great-est of all pedagogical fallacies is the notionthat a person learns only the particular thinghe is studying at the time. Collateral learn-ing in the way of formation of enduringattitudes, of likes and dislikes, may be andoften is much more important than thespelling lesson or lesson in geography orhistory that is learned."

Abraham Maslow (1973, p. 159) gavean equally strong testimonial for emo-tionally tied learning, which he calledintrinsic learning,

As I go back in my own life, I findmy greatest education experience,the ones I value most in retrospect,were highly personal, highly sub-jective,very poignant combinationsof the emotional and the cognitive.Some insight was accompanied byall sorts of autonomic nervous sys-tem fireworks that felt very good atthe time and which left as a residuethe insight that has remained withme forever.

Disposition #6 The learning environ-ment should befreefromfear. Locke (SeeGarforth, 1964, p. 13) cautioned teachersthat "affection, not fear, is the incentive

that spurs children to their duty." Rousseaufelt a need to protect children from soci-ety, which was not child-friendly.Pestalozzi thought teachers should be asgood parents and schools as good homes.His commitment to removing fear fromschools greatly influenced Froebel, Her-bert, and Montessori.

Conclusion

Learner-Centered EducationA thorough review of the literature

shows that learner-centered education hasbeen developing for over five thousandyears, and it continues to take on differentshapes. Yet, many of the dispositions thatare embedded in this education model tendto endure. The nature of all theory is toguide thinking; therefore, learner-centerededucation should guide teachers' thoughts,which will inevitably shape their behav-ior. Because the nature of all knowledgeis fluid and temporary, responsible use ofthis model requires educators to commit toa life-long pursuit of improving their under-standing of learner-centered education andof the broader processes called teachingand learning.

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Columbia, N.Y.: Teachers College Press.

Combs, A. (1962). Perceiving, behaving, becoming.Washington, DC.: Association for Supervision& Curriculum Development.

Dewey, J. (1897, June). This and the followinggeneralizations on Dewey were taken from hiswork titled "My Pedagogic Creed," whichappeared in The School Journal. 54 (3), Janu-ary 16, 1897, pp. 77-80; from his book,Experience and Education originally publishedin 1938 and reprinted in West Lafayette, Indi-

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ana by the Kappa Delta Pi Honorary Societyin Education in 1998, and from his bookDemocracy and education (New York: Macmil-lan, 1916).

Editorial. From Our Schools. New York Tribune.(Quincy Patriot, January 24, 1880).

Garforth, F.W. (1964). John Locke: Some thoughtsconcerning education. Woodbury, N.Y.: Bar-ron's Educational Series, Inc.

Garrison, W.H. (2003). "Democracy, experience,and education: Promoting a continued capaci-ty for growth." Phi Delta Kappan. 88 (7),525-529.

Good, T. & Brophy, J. (1997). Looking in class-rooms. 7'h edition, New York: Harper & Row,1997, p. 90.

Henson, K.T. (2004). Constructivist methods forteaching in diverse middle level classrooms.Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Henson, K.T. (2001). Curriculum planning: Inte-grating multiculturalism, constructivism. andeducation reform. 2 nd ed.: New York: McGraw-Hill.

Henson, K.T. & Eller, B:F. (1999). Educationalpsychology for effective teaching. Belmont,CA.: Wadsworth.

Ikenberry, 0. (1974). American education foun-dations: An introduction. Columbus, OH.:Merrill.

Maslow, A. (1973). What is a taoistic teacher? InL.J. Rubin (Ed.) Facts and findings in the class-room. New York: Walker.

McCombs, B.L. & Whisler, J.S. (1997). The learner-centered classroom and school. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass Publishers.

National Association of Laboratory Schools(1891). Laboratory schools: An educationalresource. Indiana, Pa.: Indiana University ofPennsylvania.

Ozmon, H.A. & Craver, S.M. (1999). Philosophi-cal foundations of education (6 th ed.) UpperSaddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Parker, F. (1901, Mar) Principles of correlation.School Journal 62, 217-219.

The Citadel (2002-2003). UnderUraduate Catalog.Charleston, SC.: The Citadel.

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Curriculum (CAC), Citadel 101, and TheWriting and Learning Center) aredynamic organizations that continuouslyassess their progress toward support oflearner-centered classrooms.

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TITLE: Foundations for Learner-Centered Education: AKnowledge Base

SOURCE: Education 124 no1 Fall 2003WN: 0328803481002

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