Learner centered English education<\/p>\n
By Bambang Sugeng<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Modern language education places the learner
\nat the center of the instructional system. All that is done by
\nthe teacher must be oriented to the needs and aims the student
\nhas in learning English. As, according to theories of modern
\neducation, the learner is the one who wants to learn.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, this learner-centered approach to education is
\npromoted by allowing school management to have a 30 percent to 40
\npercent portion of local content in the curriculum. This article
\npresents a reflection on the current implementation of local
\ncurricula.<\/p>\n
In the past, language teachers made all decisions concerning
\nwhat learners needed, or were supposed to need, in studying
\nEnglish.<\/p>\n
The curriculum included every language item contained in any
\nstandard English textbook. Using the General English (Hutchinson
\nand Waters, 1987) texts, the curriculum content was highly
\nextensive. The idea behind this type of curriculum is for the
\nlearner to master English in the same way a native speaker does,
\nand later select items needed for certain communication purposes.<\/p>\n
While this principle has a certain extent of validity, the
\nabsence of an emphasis on learner needs as the main consideration
\nmeans the results may not be relevant or practical to the
\nstudents themselves.<\/p>\n
Student and teacher dissatisfaction has thus grown. Complaints
\nare expressed on the wastefulness of English learning in schools.
\nNot everything that students learn all those years is put into
\nuse upon leaving school.<\/p>\n
In fact, only a small amount of their English learning is used
\neither for continuing their studies or finding jobs. Think of
\nthose high school graduates who find they must resort to further
\ntest-taking or job interview courses to actually get a place at
\nuniversity or find a job.<\/p>\n
So, around the turn of the century, English education
\ntheorists turned their attention to more specialized curricula in
\nwhich only certain items of English were included in the
\nsyllabus. Called Special English, these syllabi were developed
\nfrom careful identification and analyses of learner needs. From
\nthis scheme emerged such language courses as English for Science
\nand Technology, English for Business and Economics, English for
\nEngineering and so on. These specialized curricula were more
\neffective as instructional materials and processes were more
\nmeaningful to the learners.<\/p>\n
The basis for using such specialized curricula is the belief
\nthat the learner's needs should be a determining factor in
\ndesigning course structure. Moskowitz, an ardent proponent of a
\nlearner-centered approach to education, insists that modern
\neducation should provide the learning environment to allow
\nstudents to fully achieve their needs and fulfill their
\npotentials (1978). In this type of education, the curriculum
\ncontent relates to the feelings, experiences, aspirations,
\nbeliefs, needs, and fantasies of learners.<\/p>\n
Going a little deeper, this humanistic educator maintains that
\nlearning should be about discovering oneself, actualizing
\npotentials, and increasing self-esteem and motivation of the
\nlearners. All this is about fulfillment of learner needs.<\/p>\n
A focal consideration in the emphasis of learner needs is
\nmeaningfulness. Modern language education ensures that what the
\nstudents are doing in the classroom is meaningful to them. What
\nis the point of changing active voice sentences into passive
\nvoice, and so on, if the students are not aware why they are
\ndoing it?<\/p>\n
Meaningful learning also motivates students, which research
\nhas found to be a determining factor in the success of learning.
\nFrom the point of view of syllabus design, concentrating on the
\nneeds of learners will make the instructional process more
\npractical and economical. This saves a substantial amount of
\ntime, money, and energy for the school, teachers, and students.<\/p>\n
An emphasis on learner needs causes teachers to devise
\nstrategies to satisfy these needs. A positive result of this is
\nthat topics covered in the classroom will be more relevant to the
\nstudents, and teachers as well. Problems faced by students and
\nteachers and the general problems of society can become the
\nsubject for discussion. Many of the inefficiencies in school
\nmanagement can be traced to the fact that much of what the school
\ndoes is not relevant to society and life's problems.<\/p>\n
Since 1994, the Ministry of Education and Culture has answered
\nthese demands for education innovation by providing local content
\nto school curricula all the way from grade school to university
\nlevel. This sound intent must be properly followed by every
\nsector of the educational field, be they administrative or
\nacademic. Three conditions need to exist for this policy to take
\neffect.<\/p>\n
First, real decentralization of curriculum should be
\nimplemented. Schools must be given complete freedom to develop
\ntheir local content curriculum to satisfy the needs of their
\nlearners. Regional offices should exercise less control to enable
\nindividual schools to design relevant study material. The fact
\nthat the local school management is in a better position to know
\nwhat is needed by the learners has long been ignored.<\/p>\n
The more the ministry directly controls the curriculum, the
\nfarther away the school is from satisfying the needs of society.
\nSome teachers have complained that the administrative sector in
\neducation management has interfered too much in academic issues.
\nThis is not conducive to the decentralization of curriculum
\ncontrol.<\/p>\n
Second, more freedom should be given to individual teachers to
\nexercise their expertise in classroom instruction and management.
\nProfessional teachers have been trained to develop instructional
\nprocesses which take into account their skills and attitudes and
\ntheir students' characteristics. Control over teacher creativity
\nhas been a great obstruction to the full functioning of
\nprofessional teaching. Practices in the field (Retnaningsih,
\n1998, Sukarni, 1998) show that, when given adequate freedom,
\nteachers are quite keen to exercise their skills to the extent
\nthat their teaching produces great results.<\/p>\n
Third, the community should be allowed and encouraged to
\nbecome more involved. Research has shown that parents are
\nconcerned with the quality of education given to their children.
\nConcerned parents have ideas that could be invaluable for the
\ndevelopment of an excellent local curriculum content. It is not
\njustifiable to involve parents only in cases where the school
\nneeds to raise funds. A large number of parents would be quite
\nready to give suggestions as to what their children need to
\nlearn, help teachers provide classroom resources, and guide their
\nchildren with their home assignments.<\/p>\n
The involvement of the community in the management of the
\nschool helps education be more congruent with the needs of the
\ncommunity. Kemp, another advocate of a learner-centered approach
\nto education, sees modern education not as an ivory tower, grave
\nand aloof from the community, but more as an institution to help
\nsociety solve some of its problems (1977).<\/p>\n
The time has passed for language education to assume
\ninstructional processes provide everything for everyone. Instead,
\ndifferent learners have different expectations in learning
\nEnglish and, therefore, need different treatments.<\/p>\n
Local curricula should include content which accommodates
\nlearner needs specific to certain regions. Regional and other
\nbranch offices of the ministry of education should follow this
\nprinciple so as not to prescribe what and how teachers should do
\nand behave in the classroom.<\/p>\n
The schools should be given more freedom to devise curriculum
\ncontent which will suit the needs, characteristics, and aims of
\ntheir learners. Unless learner needs are taken as a determining
\nfactor in developing a local curriculum content, not much
\ninnovation can be achieved in our education system.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer at the English Education Department
\nof the Yogyakarta Teachers Training Institute.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/learner-centered-english-education-1447893297",
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