A Room of One's Own Learning

Learner autonomy is a buzz word in recent years. It is not giving up teaching and asking students take care of their learning. It is not giving freedom for a learner in the class. It is not learners doing anything in the class. It means that learners must be self directed individuals. They must first of all learn what their learning style is and what their strength and weakness are. After knowing oneself thoroughly as a learner, he / she can take responsibility of one's own learning. So, an autonomous learner knows what he knows and what he needs to know. Metacognitive strategies make him concious of what he learns. He can solve whatever problem he has in his learning.

Learner autonomy solves several problems in a large classroom where both slow learners and bright students study together. A teacher can give them individualised education. Learning will me more of learner centred. But in a learner centred classroom (where we have autonomous learners), teacher's role is crucial. A teacher must be autonomous too. He must have some freedom regarding the lessons he teach. This becomes difficult where the syllabus is framed by someone, materials are prepared by someone else, and evaluation is made by another one. A teacher must have freedom to make choice regarding the learning of his students. I believe that "learner autonomy is a room of one's own learning"

Pradheep