Page 143 - Beyond Methods

CHAPTER 6
Promoting Learner Autonomy
Learners must no longer sit there and expect to be taught; teachers must no longer stand up there teaching all the time. Teachers have to learn to let go and learners have to learn to take hold.
—BRIAN PAGE, 1992, p. 84
The concept of autonomy, in one form or another, has long engaged the minds of people everywhere. It is grounded in a human ten- dency to seek control over one’s life. It is displayed in different ways by different people. How it is theorized and practiced varies from time to time, context to context, and culture to culture. In its most basic form, it represents a fundamental longing for freedom of thought and freedom of action in personal, economic, social, polit- ical, and other walks of life. Individuals and societies alike have often turned to educational institutions looking for tools that can guide them toward their pursuit of autonomy.
In educational circles, autonomy is considered a worthy goal to achieve for philosophical as well as for psychological reasons. From a philosophical point of view, one of the desirable, though not easily achievable, goals of general education has always been to create au- tonomous individuals who are willing and able to think independ- ently and act responsibly. In a rapidly changing world where instant and informed decision making is a prerequisite for successful func- tioning, helping learners become autonomous is one way of maxi- mizing their chances for success. The psychological foundation for learner autonomy can be traced to various branches of psychology: to cognitive psychology, which suggests that learning is very effective if the learner integrates knowledge within a personal framework; to humanistic psychology, which emphasizes the promotion of learners’ self-esteem through personal ownership of learning; and to educa- tional psychology, which posits a strong connection between learner autonomy and learner motivation (Broady and Kenning, 1996).