Centeredness of education in the United States

• Author: Lucian Radu
• Position: Dept.of Literatures and Cultural Studies, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 43-50

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 9 (58) No. 2 - 2016

CENTEREDNESS OF EDUCATION IN

THE UNITED STATES

Lucian RADU1

Abstract: In this paper, we are going to present the most representative

features of the teacher centered learning, where the teacher is considered to

be the only reliable source of information and concentrates the entire power

in his/her hands. They are presented versus the features of student centered

learning, where students may choose their subjects; students are active

participants during the learning process; power belongs mainly to students;

students talk as much as the teacher during the class; students may use

teaching aids, etc. We have identified the causes for which student centered

learning has not been extensively introduced in the American public school.

Key words: behaviour, education, learning, student centred learning,

teacher centred learning.

1. Introduction

School must endow students with a certain behavior and learning techniques while at

the same time fulfilling social and economic needs. In his work, How Teachers Taught:

Constancy and Change in American Classrooms (1890 - 1980), Larry Cuban (1984)

discusses teacher-centered versus student-centered learning.

In teacher-centered learning, the teacher is the one who dominates the verbal exchanges

in the act of teaching. His/her voice is dominant. Teaching is for the whole class. The

teacher is the one who manages the time required for each stage of teaching and students

are seated in front of him/her in rows of desks. On the other hand, Cuban describes

student-centered learning, where the student speaks as much as the teacher in class,

teaching is delivered individually or for small groups, students participate in class

management and teaching aids are available for all of them (Cuban, 1984).

2. Student-centered education/ Teacher-centered education. Dualism or Continuum

The term ‘student-centered education’ is frequently used in pedagogical literature.

Given the demographic explosion of the school population and the consumer culture

centered on the customer, contemporary society offers a climate in which student-

centered education is a phrase increasingly used. The concept of student-centered

education dates back to 1905 in Hayward and 1956 in Dewey’s work. Interpretation

varies from one author to another. Some consider it as the equivalent of an active

learning; others define it in a more comprehensive way, considering it an active learning,

1 Dept.of Literatures and Cultural Studies, Transilvania University of Brasov, lucianradu10@yahoo.com