Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Obstacles to Implementing Student-Centered Learning: A Mixed-Methods Study
محورهای موضوعی : Research Paper
Mohammad Hemmati
1
(
English Department, Malayer Branch, Islamic Azad University, Malayer, Iran
)
Faramarz Aziz Malayeri
2
(
English Department, Malayer Branch, Islamic Azad University, Malayer, Iran
)
کلید واژه: Social constructivism, Student-Centered Learning (SCL), English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers, Mixed Methods study,
چکیده مقاله :
Recent studies within the past four decades have confirmed the effectiveness of Student-Centered Learning (SCL) over Teacher-Centered Learning (TCL). Furthermore, the emergence of 21st-century learning skills and competencies necessitates education systems to change their previous practices and equip their students with these skills and competencies. However, implementing SCL has not gained considerable attention among education authorities and EFL teachers in Iranian high schools. This study aims to explore EFL teachers' understanding of SCL and their perceptions of the obstacles to implementing it in Kermanshah, Iran. To this end, the study employed a convergent mixed-methods design that combined 24-item questionnaire data with 9 structured interviews using the NVIVO Software Version10. The questionnaire analysis revealed that there is a wide gap between the participants’ perceptions of SCL and their practices in the classroom. Moreover, the analysis of the interviews led to extracting three main themes of institutional, teacher-student-parent, and socio-cultural obstacles that impede implementing SCL in EFL classes and indicate that TCL practices are still running. The results revealed that teachers hold general perceptions of SCL. However, due to some constraints, they adhere to the TCL.
Al-Humaidi, S. (2015). Student-centered learning at Sultan Qaboos University: EFL students’ perceptions. International Journal of Education, 7(3), 194-209.
An, Y. J., & Reigeluth, C. (2011). Creating technology-enhanced, learner-centered classrooms: K–12 teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, barriers, and support needs. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(2), 54-62.
Arman, M. S. (2018). Student-centered approach to teaching: It takes two to tango. Ahfad Journal, 35(2).
Bransford, J., Vye, N., & Bateman, H. (2002, May). Creating high-quality learning environments: Guidelines from research on how people learn. In The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education: Report of Workshop (pp. 159-198).
Bray, B., & McClaskey, K. (2014). Make learning personal: The what, who, wow, where, and why. Corwin Press.
Brooks, J. G. (2004). Constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and learning. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved July, 15, 2004.
Bruning, R. H., Schraw, G. J., Norby, M. M., & Ronning, R. R. (2004). Cognitive psychology and instruction (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Bruning, R. H., Schraw, G. J., & Norby, M. M. (2011). Cognitive psychology and instruction (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Burke, J. D. (1983). Teaching styles in college geography. Journal of Geography, 82(6), 255-256.
Cobb, P., & Bowers, J. (1999). Cognitive and situated learning perspectives in theory and practice. Educational researcher, 28(2), 4-15.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (5th ed.). Sage publications.
Cuban, L. (2006). Getting past futile pedagogical wars. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(10), 793-795.
Dandoulakis, G. (1986). Towards a Student-Centred Teaching of English Literature.
Ebert-May, D., Derting, T. L., Hodder, J., Momsen, J. L., Long, T. M., & Jardeleza, S. E. (2011). What we say is not what we do: Effective evaluation of faculty professional development programs. BioScience, 61(7), 550-558.
Fadel, C., & Trilling, B. (2010). 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times. Education Review.
Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (1996). Navigating the bumpy road to student-centered instruction. College teaching, 44(2), 43-47.
Flick, U. (Ed.). (2018). The SAGE qualitative research kit. SAGE Publications Limited.
Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury publishing USA.
Ghaicha, A., & Mezouari, K. (2018). Moroccan EFL secondary school teachers’ perceptions and practices of learner-centered teaching in Taroudant Directorate of Education, Morocco. Higher Education of Social Science, 14(1), 38-48.
Glowa, L., & Goodell, J. (2016). Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning. International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
Harden, R. M., & Laidlaw, J. M. (2013). Be FAIR to students: four principles that lead to more effective learning. Medical teacher, 35(1), 27-31.
Harkema, S. J., & Schout, H. (2008). Incorporating student‐centred learning in innovation and entrepreneurship education. European Journal of Education, 43(4), 513-526.
Hoidn, S. (2016). Student-centered learning environments in higher education classrooms. Springer.
Jacobs, G. M., & Renandya, W. A. (2019). Student centered cooperative learning: Linking concepts in education to promote student learning. Springer.
Jacobs, G. M., Renandya, W. A., & Power, M. (2016). Simple, powerful strategies for student centered learning. Springer International Publishing.
Kain, D. J. (2003). Teacher-centered versus student-centered: Balancing constraint and theory in the composition classroom. Pedagogy, 3(1), 104-108.
Kaymakamoglu, S. E. (2018). Teachers' Beliefs, Perceived Practice and Actual Classroom Practice in Relation to Traditional (Teacher-Centered) and Constructivist (Learner-Centered) Teaching (Note 1). Journal of Education and Learning, 7(1), 29-37.
Kelly, J. (1985). Student-Centered Teaching for Increased Participation. NEA Professional Library, PO Box 509, West Haven, CT 06516.
Klemenčič, M. (2019). Successful design of Student-Centered Learning and instruction (SCLI) Ecosystems in the European higher education area. A keynote at the XX Anniversary of the Bologna Process.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (1991). Language-learning tasks: Teacher intention and learner interpretation.
Lak, M., Soleimani, H., & Parvaneh, F. (2017). The effect of teacher-centeredness method vs. learner-centeredness method on reading comprehension among Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Advances in English Language Teaching, 5(1), pp-1.
Machemer, P. L., & Crawford, P. (2007). Student perceptions of active learning in a large cross-disciplinary classroom. Active learning in higher education, 8(1), 9-30.
Martínez-Mesa, J., González-Chica, D. A., Duquia, R. P., Bonamigo, R. R., & Bastos, J. L. (2016). Sampling: how to select participants in my research study? Anais brasileiros de dermatologia, 91(3), 326-330.
Mascolo, M. F. (2009). Beyond student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogy: Teaching and learning as guided participation. Pedagogy and the human sciences, 1(1), 3-27.
Masters, K. (2013). Edgar Dale's Pyramid of Learning in medical education: A literature review. Medical teacher, 35(11), e1584-e1593.
Memari Hanjani, A., & Li, L. (2017). Cooperative learning pedagogy: A response to an urgent need in the Iranian EFL reading comprehension context. Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 36(3), 33-58.
Mercer, N. (2013). The social brain, language, and goal-directed collective thinking: A social conception of cognition and its implications for understanding how we think, teach, and learn. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 148-168.
Moradi, M. R., & Alavinia, P. (2020). Learner-Centered Education in the Iranian EFL Context: A Glance through the Impediments. Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 38(4), 95-121.
Nonkukhetkhong, K., Baldauf Jr, R. B., & Moni, K. (2006). Learner centeredness in teaching English as a foreign language: Teachers' voices.
O’Neill, G., & McMahon, T. (2005). Student-centred learning: What does it mean for students and lecturers.
Passman, R. (2000). Pressure Cooker: Experiences with Student-Centered Teaching and Learning in High-Stakes Assessment Environments.
Pham Thi Hong, T. (2011). Issues to consider when implementing student-centred learning practices at Asian higher education institutions. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(5), 519-528.
Plucker, J., Kaufman, J., & Beghetto, R. (2016). The 4Cs research series. P21: Partnership for 21st Century Learning.
Prapaisit de Segovia, L., & Hardison, D. M. (2009). Implementing education reform: EFL teachers’ perspectives. ELT journal, 63(2), 154-162.
Protheroe, N. (2007). How children learn. PRINCIPAL-ARLINGTON-, 86(5), 40.
Renandya, W. A., & Widodo, H. P. (Eds.). (2016). English language teaching today: Linking theory and practice (Vol. 5). Springer.
Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. W. (2013). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. Routledge.
Salleh, S., & Yusoff, N. M. (2017). TEACHERS’ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS TOWARDS THE USE OF STUDENT-CENTRED LEARNING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES. Proceedings of the ICECRS, 1(1).
Sawyer, R. K. (Ed.). (2005). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. Cambridge University Press.
Slavich, G. M., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2012). Transformational teaching: Theoretical underpinnings, basic principles, and core methods. Educational psychology review, 24(4), 569-608.
Sockman, B. R. (2015). Innovative teacher’s perceptions of their development when creating learner centered classrooms with ubiquitous computing. International Education Research, 3(3), 26-48.
Stefaniak, J. E., & Tracey, M. W. (2015). An exploration of student experiences with learner-centered instructional strategies.
Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Ministry of Education and Supreme Council of Education (2011). Fundamental Reform Document of Education (FRDE) in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mashhad, Iran.
Terrell, S. R. (2012). Mixed-methods research methodologies. Qualitative report, 17(1), 254-280.
Van Viegen, S., & Russell, B. (2019). More than language—Evaluating a Canadian university EAP bridging program. TESL Canada Journal, 36(1), 97-120.
Villacís, W. G. V., & Camacho, C. S. H. (2017). Learner-centered instruction: An approach to develop the speaking skill in English. Revista Publicando, 4(12 (1)), 379-389.
Vavrus, F., Thomas, M., & Bartlett, L. (2011). Ensuring quality by attending to inquiry: Learner-centered pedagogy in sub-Saharan Africa. Addis Ababa, Éthiopie: UNESCO-IICBA.
Yilmaz, K. (2008). Social studies teachers' views of learner‐centered instruction. European journal of teacher education, 31(1), 35-53.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner & E. Souberman, Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Wright, G. B. (2011). Student-centered learning in higher education. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(1), 92-97.
Zeki, C. P., & Güneyli, A. (2014). Student teachers’ perceptions about their experiences in a student-centered course. South African Journal of Education, 34(3).
Zohrabi, M., Torabi, M. A., & Baybourdiani, P. (2012). Teacher-centered and/or student-centered learning: English language in Iran. English language and literature studies, 2(3), 18.
