This document discusses learner-centered education and provides strategies for teachers to engage students. It begins by describing how learner-centeredness is not about lowering expectations or eliminating challenging tasks, but is instead about being responsive to students' needs and making decisions in their best interests. Several instructional strategies are presented for engaging students, such as graphic organizers, debates, visuals, and cooperative learning. The document emphasizes that teachers should share control with students and use strategies that allow students to direct their own learning through inquiry, projects, and other active methods. It concludes by stating the importance of teachers acting as facilitators rather than solely controlling students' learning experiences.

2. It All Begins With a Song

3. F
L
O
W
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Flow: The Optimal Experience

4. In the Flow…
Drawing Exercise:
Draw a time when you were highly engaged as a learner, and still
remember to this day. What did it look like? What did it sound like?

8. Learner Centeredness does not just take place in Kindergarten Classes;
It is a mindset as to how we approach teaching and learning for ALL LEARNERS

10. A few “personal” caveats about
“learner-centeredness”
 It is not about lowering expectations for students
 It is not about eliminating all learning tasks that
students dislike doing (e.g. exams)
 It is not about less accountability for students
 It is not about being accessible to students 24/7
 It is not about avoiding risk/failure while learning
…..but it is about being responsive to the learners’
needs, involving them in course/classroom
decisions, using research-proven practices to design
powerful learning experiences, and making decisions that
are made in the bests interests of our students.

11. Symbols, Models and Frameworks
of learning and education
 Compare and Contrast
 Finish the sentence:
Colleges/Universities/Schools are like _______________________
because ________________________________________________
Learning is like _______________________because ___________
_______________________________________________________
A symbol of learning/education today is ____________________
because________________________________________________
How would our students complete this exercise?

19. Retrieved from “What did you
do in school today?”, Canadian
Education Association, 2009
Grade 9 -12 students
What happens here?
What happens here?

20. Inspiring Education: The Solution

21. History of Canadian Education
At what times have we been most “Learner Centered”

22. Me – in grade 2

23. Me – in grade 4

24. Me – in grade 6

26. Our Students Have Changed
“’At risk’ students are those who leave school before or after
graduation with little possibility of continuing learning”
***Roland Barth

27. TEAMS:
Together Everyone Achieves More Success

28. Curriculum in the
Language
Arts
th
20
Mathematics
Music
Social
Studies
Art
Science
Phys-ed and
Health
The Old Model
Century

29. Curriculum in the 21st Century
The New Model
Collaboration
and Leadership
Critical
Thinking, Proble
m Solving and
Decision Making
Lifelong
Learning, Personal
Management and
Well-Being
Creativity and
Innovation
Digital and
Technological
Fluency
Communication
Social, Cultural, G
lobal and
Environmental
Responsibility

30. Project-based Learning
Problem-based Learning
Self-directed Learning
Inquiry Learning
Service Learning
Differentiated Learning

31. Constructivism requires us to give up control and
share it with the students.
How do we do this?

32. Tate
S
I
D
E
S
Marzano
Bennett
Strategic
Instructional
Design to
Engage
Students
FLOW
=
Engagement
Silver

33. 20 Instructional Strategies To Engage the Learner
Graphic Organizers
Writing and Reflection
Brainstorming
Field Trips
Debates
Visuals
Movement
Humor and Celebration
Music, Rhythm, Rhyme & Rap
Cooperative Learning
Problem Based Learning
Role play/Drama/Charades
Summarizing and Note-making
Technology
Visualization
Games
Storytelling
Manipulatives/Models
Mnemonic Devices
Drawing and Artwork
By Marcia Tate

35. Interview Skills for Education Students
35

36. Turn and Talk for Two
 What is role of my students? What is my role as an teacher?
 Which instructional strategies will help my students





direct/control their own meanings and their own learning?
How will I assess this “constructed learning”
(tests, projects, service learning, presentations, final exams)
How else can I give control/ownership to students in my
courses? How can I empower them? How can I capture their
voice?
What are the challenges in giving up control?
How am I a “Learner-Centered” teacher?
How am I NOT a “Learner-Centered” teacher?

37. Are we teachers?
 Determining the learning destination
 Creating questions that foster inquiry
 Designing units, backwards
 Determining assessment evidence
 Recognizing the benefits of performance criteria
or are we designers?
Architects of instruction?
Facilitators of learning?

38. Which song are you singing?
An Old and Familiar Tune
Or a A New Song
Is it time to change our tune? If so, why?
Learner-Centered education is
NOT a new concept

39. End of the Line/Buzzin’
By The Young Fellas

40. “True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which
they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their
crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own.”
-Nikos Kazantzakis

41. Resources:
 21st Century Skills by Bernie Trilling & Charles Fader
 Better Learning Through Structured Teaching by Douglas





Fisher & Nancy Frey
Beyond Monet by Barrie Bennett & Carol Rolheiser
Classroom Instruction That Works by Robert
Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jane Pollock
Never Work Harder Than Your Students by Robyn Jackson
Sit and Get Won’t Grow Dendrites: Professional Learning
Strategies to Engage the Adult Brain by Marcia Tate
The Strategic Teacher by Harvey Silver, Richard Strong, &
Matthew Perini