Prerequisites of a Learning Environment
<<< Back Article by Sven Cederberg There are a number of factors that decide a school's basic possibilities of establishing a stimulating and rewarding learning environment, and creating conditions for the continuous development of fruitful didactic and pedagogical models.
The prime prerequisites are:
pronounced views on knowledge and the learning processes clear interpretation of didactic and pedagogical goals explicit pedagogical leadership and freedom with responsibility awareness of the availability of resources good routines for planning good routines for evaluation creativity and will to experiment holistic assessment criteria learner participation
Pronounced views on knowledge and the learning processes
Knowledge is acquired in continual learning processes. It is neither absolute nor static. It can't be 'transfused' from one brain to another or from teacher to student. Views on knowledge have to include views on human potential. Some educational institutions have a general section in their curriculum where these important basic values are pronounced. Learning is, in essence, a continual process resulting in changed or adapted behavioural patterns that improve the individual's readiness for both known and unknown situations. The learning process works best when starting from the learner's own experience, and it requires the motivation to change unwanted behaviour or to acquire new behaviour. Any views on knowledge and the learning process should be based on the assumption that the learner can and wants to take responsibility for her own learning process. In many countries it is now the fashion to implement information technology into educational practices. "The students should seek their own knowledge by using the Internet" is common advice. In our experience the road to learner autonomy goes through 'the eye of the needle'. Many learners, including adults, have discouraging experience of conventional teaching, and they need a lot of guidance in order to become autonomous. They should not be let loose on the Internet. They should rather be guided through the process of learning how to search adequate information on the Net, to process that information, and thus acquire knowledge. When they can use what they have acquired in a new situation, then and only then have they acquired knowledge. You can take for granted that any learner under any circumstances sets her mind ( consciously or unconsciously ) on learning as much as possible at as little expense as possible. That seems to be Nature's own law of economy. You have to take into consideration, though, that the teacher's aims (or those of the curriculum) may be in stark contrast to those of the student. The needs and the aims of society are not always the same as those of the individual. That is our main problem in didactics. No clear-cut research data have pinpointed the learning processes, and there is no absolute truth as to how the individual develops learning strategies. There is every reason to assume that there are great individual differences, and that any pedagogical model should be based on individualization and self-pace studies. On the other hand the learning process and the development of learning strategies are enhanced in communication between individuals and in groups, especially where experienced teachers or tutors are involved. It must be stressed, again and again, that the student should be able to start at the right level, and to work at her own pace in order to optimize her chances of success. Knowledge and proficiency should not be quantified. A holistic view is essential, and the learning process should as far as possible be based on PBL - problem based learning. Learner autonomy is not simply a working method, but in itself one of the goals of education.
Clear interpretation of didactic and pedagogical goals
Goals are generally rather vaguely framed in curricula and syllabi. Some countries have a national curriculum. Such a document is usually 'politically correct', and quite blurred. It needs to be interpreted. In countries with a combination of a national curriculum and a decentralized educational system, local authorities around the country are obliged to interpret, often in writing, the national curriculum, and each school has to provide a local document where concrete goals are clearly laid out. Schools with distinct guidelines seem to have a clear advantage over other schools. It is amazing that there are so many schools where teachers are allowed to be their own masters and just close the classroom door on the rest of the world. There is often a good reason - the lack of pedagogical leadership. Many headmasters have been reduced to administrators.
Explicit pedagogical leadership and freedom with responsibility
A school's distinct didactic and pedagogical guidelines are linked to its pedagogical leadership. It is assumed that the principal of a school has the overall responsibility. The snag is he or she is usually overburdened with funding and other practical problems, and there are hardly any schools with a 'production' manager. There are also very few schools where someone is appointed for the task of keeping in touch with university departments for scientific research. Principals often limit their leadership to the confinement of their staff to the classroom. Devoting time to the making of a didactic programme is a super investment. It should lay the foundations of freedom rather than confinement. Teachers are supposed to foster autonomy in their pupils. How can they do that if their own everyday work is ruled by detailed regulations?
Awareness of the availability of resources
Both students and teachers must be well aware of what resources are at hand. This may sound self-evident, but there are many indications that it isn't. How can one plan a course if the goals are blurred? How can one plan a course if the resources are unknown? There are more resources than funding to be taken into account. Like these:   the student's personal resources teacher resources learning psychology and techniques materials aids A student's personal range of aptitude, experience, motivation, previous knowledge and learning strategies are all important resources to be taken into account. Previous knowledge can be diagnosed more or less accurately. Earlier experience of conventional education is often a drag and may be linked to lack of motivation. Students can often describe learning situations they like, but they have little or no awareness of systematic learning strategies or techniques. As awareness of personal resources, especially with positive feed-back, enhances learning, it is important that a dialogue between teacher and students is initiated early. Exchange of experience between students should be encouraged. No school is better than the collected competence of its staff. Qualified teachers must be allowed to work within their field of competence. A teacher is not supposed to be a conveyer of information. They often are! More often than not it is their own fault. Teachers can never 'transfuse' knowledge into the heads of their students. They can be models, catalysts, tutors, organizers, planners, pedagogues, but they should never resort to being simple informants. There must be ample room for learning psychology and techniques in the course study guide. Understanding the basics of the language learning process, for example, gives the language student a good start. Exchanging hints on study techniques is another way of focusing the process. Materials must reinforce the student's self-directed and self-pace learning. A student must never be reduced to a passive recipient of information. A wide range of materials adapted for problem based learning should be available. As the student's initial proficiency level has been assessed, and as she takes active part in the planning process, it is only natural to assume that she can make her own choices.
Good routines for planning
When you have the goals of the curriculum clearly defined and the resources pinpointed, you can start planning the course. This is to be done together with the students. Being part of the planning process gives the students a real feeling of participation, which increases motivation and learning. The students must be informed of the fact that learning to plan one's work is part of the overall aim of education. Planning should be based on individualization.
Good routines for evaluation
First of all - make a distinction between evaluation and assessment. In evaluation one is not concerned with testing the student's level of proficiency, but rather with why she has, or has not, reached her goals. Evaluation should be a continual process. Students should be encouraged to learn to evaluate their own progress.
Creativity and will to experiment
Most schools are very conservative, and the excuse for the lack of research and development is usually funding. Projects and experimental classroom work is seen as a cost. A progressive school should see it as an investment. In our experience very few schools have established links to university institutions in order to benefit from their research work. Very little time is set aside for the teachers to reflect upon their working conditions and methods. The introduction of information technology is changing all this, quite simply because lagging behind is virtually impossible. As pointed out above, the teacher's role should not be that of the informant, but she should be the expert pedagogue. A vast majority of teachers around the globe are real professionals. The snag is they are experts on yesterday's four-walled classroom methodology. That is why it is utterly important that schools spend money on creative and experimental in-service training for their staff.
Holistic assessment criteria
With the introduction of computers in education we run the risk of going back 30 years in the field of assessment and general testing. Computers make it is very simple to create multiple choice tests and process data. The assessment process runs the risk of being broken up into small snippets. Communicative competence or social science, for example,  must not be reduced to snippets. We are definitely not totally against multiple choice tests. We have lots of good ones! But they should be used for the right purposes, and should not be allowed to replace competence tests such as oral and written reports, analyses, interviews and other communicative forms of assessment. Assessing a student should be a continual process. Classroom observations are an important part, and often a subconscious process in the experienced teacher.  Assessment must not rely solely on written testing.
Learner participation
There is no learning without a learner. The learner is part of the learning environment. The aim of progressive education is to make the learner autonomous. Autonomy requires both freedom and responsibility. The way to autonomy goes through 'the eye of the needle', though.
<<< Back