Week 7 : Teacher-centred learning phased out

One of my last week's posts was entitled  “Collaboration Vs Individualization” and it seems to me that the discussion this week amounts to the same degree of importance as the previous. Here we will be discussing  ‘teacher controlled learning Vs autonomous learning’. It’s mainly a matter of terminology as I feel individualization is another label for autonomy. In his article “What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered?” Dimitrios Thanasoulas even referred to more synonyms like:
'independence' (Sheerin, 1991), 'language awareness' (Lier, 1996;James & Garrett, 1991), 'self-direction' (Candy, 1991), 'andragogy' (Knowles, 1980; 1983 etc.

My feeling is that autonomy is much bigger than a mere educational theory, it’s a social philosophy fed by the inborn human penchant for independence. By nature humans develop a strange inclination towards autonomy the older they get. Yet, after it was first defined by Holec the concept of autonomy encompassed other areas than being an inborn human capacity. It came to be used as the learners right to direct their own learning and bear full responsibility for its processes …, etc.

The thought that granting learners autonomy means turning teachers  redundant is a big fallacy, because the hardest task is to succeed in clarifying the broad goals and objectives of autonomy for students so they can understand the concept and so the learning takes place as fruitful as expected. As Sheerin (1997, cited in Benson & Voller, 1997: 63) succinctly puts it, '[t]eachers--have a crucial role to play in launching learners into self-access and in lending them a regular helping hand to stay afloat' Many teachers claim that they encourage autonomy in their classes while their students learning conditions float on frail ground lacking  of motivation, learning strategies/needs and language awareness. 

We as teachers all presume that the classroom is an extension of the outside world, which by consequence implies that  an autonomous student is the refection of an autonomous citizen. In other words, if  a student is not trained to assume responsibility in their real life, they will certainly misinterpret the notion of autonomy and responsibility when it comes to learning. This explains why many classes turn to chaos once learners are liberated from complete teacher control. This leads us to question the universality of the concept of learner autonomy and the its usability for all cultures and in all contexts:

“ ... learner training and other approaches which attempt to fit learners into preconceived models of the ‘ideal autonomous learner’ may lend support to the criticism that autonomy is a western concept inappropriate for ‘non-western’ students"  ('learner autonomy’ -  By Richard smith)