Montreal writer and teacher Michael Carbert claims that the simulated lap dance done by two teachers at a pep rally in a Churchill, Manitoba high school is the result of what he calls a “deeply entrenched and hopelessly flawed philosophy of education called student-centred learning”, the result of which are “permissive and indulgent classroom practices”.
As an adult educator who trains instructors in “learner-centred” instructional skills, I find Carbert’s remarks generalized and misleading. The intent of a learner-centred model of instruction is to be inclusive, cognizant of the needs of the individual learner, and responsive to them. The approach is the result of studies in adult education which show that when the instructional focus is strictly on content (traditionally delivered via lecture), learners are often left behind. Instruction is simply more effective when the needs of the learners are considered and methods employed which involve learners in the learning process. Nowhere in the philosophy of learner-centred instruction is it suggested that instructors turn control of instruction over to the learners.
Carbert claims that when instructors act as “facilitators”, they are not respected and their knowledge is considered less important than the interests and ideas of their students. While that may occasionally be the practice, it is not the intent of “learner-centred” instruction. Personally, I think Carbert’s description of students who know their rights but not their responsibilities is more an indictment of how many in our society view child-raising than of our education system.
