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TEACHER CENTRIC AND STUDENT CENTRIC EDUCATION - A COMPARISON


A dichotomy is a contrast between two things. When there are two ideas, especially two opposed ideas — like war and peace, or love and hate — you have a dichotomy.

Student centric and teacher centric classroom is not a dichotomy. Why?

Let me tell you. Even if their tastes differ significantly from those of their friends, students can choose the learning strategies that best suit them when they are aligned with a student-centered approach to learning. Kevin M. Wong notes in a recent paper in Educational Technology Research and Development that regardless of the strategies employed to promote student-centered education, the end effect frequently involves a greater sense of student agency in the classroom.

In light of this, student- and teacher-centered learning are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Both of these educational strategies can help teachers create compelling learning experiences that are catered to the specific needs of their students by providing them with a wide variety of teaching strategies to select from.

Each approach—teacher-centered and student-centered—has benefits and drawbacks of its own. Recently, student-centered education has gained popularity among teachers. However, given that teacher-centered education is a successful teaching approach in a variety of subject areas, we cannot ignore it. I would propose combining these approaches to come up with a more successful plan. where the pupils can be reprimanded quietly while yet working as a group. Simply try several approaches until you find the one that works best for you and your kids because you are the person who knows them best. Just be sure you incorporate the pupils and keep them interested. Use a balanced educational environment, please.

Before I wrap up the lecture, let me briefly review our discussion on teacher-centered and student-centered education.

When learning is oriented on the teacher, students are completely focused on the teachers. Students listen as the teacher speaks. Here, the problem is, collaboration is discouraged among the students as they work alone in activities if there are any. There is no space for the students to communicate or interact with their classmates.

Pros of Teacher-Centric Classroom:-

No doubt, there will be a well-organized classroom. You're much disciplined. Students are quite quiet. Students are capable of making their own decisions and becoming autonomous since they are taught in this manner, which is no doubt, a good thing. The teacher can cover every topic, never missing one, and is self-satisfied that they have finished their lectures.

Cons of Teacher-Centric Classroom:-

Students may feel bored and may miss some crucial topics if collaboration with other students is lacking. Clearly, this approach doesn't allow students to express themselves and sometimes prohibits them from asking questions. Lateral thinking is often discouraged, and students are forced to study in the manner that only how the teacher has taught them. They are afraid of deviating from any approach because they believe either they might go wrong, or it would result in punishment.

Unlike in the teacher-centric case, the focus in Student-centered method, the instruction is shared by both students and teachers. Meaning to say that, the students and teachers interact equally rather than solely listening to the teacher. Here students are encouraged to work in groups and learn to collaborate and communicate with one another.

Pros of Student-Centric Classroom:-

Group work teaches students crucial communicative and collaborative skills; students can talk, ask questions, and finish projects independently. When students can freely communicate with one another and participate actively, they will be more interested in learning activities.

Cons of Student-Centric-Classroom:-

Since students are talking, classrooms may frequently be chaotic or boisterous. When students are working on different stages of the same project, teachers may be required to try to manage all of the students' efforts at simultaneously. Also, some pupils may miss crucial information since the teacher doesn't always instruct everyone at once. Because some students prefer to work alone, group projects might be challenging.

If someone challenges you and claims that the teacher-centric approach is the best one, it shows they are only considering the advantages of the approach and haven't considered its drawbacks. However, it has been discovered that more teachers have shifted towards a student-centered approach in recent years, where teachers are seen more as facilitators. Some students, however, insist that teacher-centered instruction is the more successful approach. Most of the time, I believe it is better for teachers to combine several strategies in order to meet all of the demands of their students.


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