Student Centered Instruction for Interactive and Effective Teaching Learning Perceptions of Teachers in Bangladesh
Introduction In traditional education methodologies, teachers direct the learning process and students assume a receptive role in their education. Armstrong (2012) claimed that "traditional education ignores or suppresses learner responsibility" At present educators have largely agreed to replace traditional curriculum approaches with "hands on" activities and "group work" in which learners determines on their own what they want to do in class. Student centered instruction is in contrast to traditional education system, by focusing on each student's interests, abilities, and learning styles, placing the teacher as a facilitator of learning. This classroom instruction method acknowledges students' role in the center of the teaching learning and differs from many other learning methodologies. In a student centered classroom, students choose what they will learn, how they will learn, and how they will assess their own learning. Teacher centered instruction has the teacher at its center in an active role and students in a passive role. In a teacher centered classroom, teachers choose what the students will learn, how the students will learn, and how the students will be assessed on their learning. Student centered instruction requires students to be active, responsible participants in their own learning. John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky, famous theorists have shown in their work focused on how students learn, is primarily responsible for the move to student centered learning. Student centered instruction means inverting the traditional teacher centered understanding of the learning process and putting students at the center of the learning process.