Self-directed learning vs contemporary education system

The contemporary education system is predominantly based on a classical hierarchical mode of education. The centre of everything is a teacher. The teacher passes on knowledge, facts and skills on pupils. The teacher instructs pupils on processes and methods how to reach targets of education. Each pupil is the same at the end of school education. They are all alike as a yoghurt leaving a conveyor belt. Is this approach right? How to change it? How to make use of self-directed learning in the contemporary education system?

Carry on reading to find out.

Contemporary education system is historical product of industrial revolution

Science wasn’t taught before 1800. A person who wanted to become a scientist usually joined a club or a learned society. Lectures took place there. People could get acquainted and get connections there. Afterwards they communicated with the new acquaintances, cooperated with them and acquired new information from them.

Another approach was to become an autodidact. James Watt and Thomas Edison didn’t attend universities. They carried out experiments on their own and alone. They learnt new knowledge on their own.

When the industrial revolution started, it was necessary to produce workforce which would have the same education so that factories could get employees. That is how the contemporary modern education system started to exist. There have been only gradual changes since its inception. School still produce products (pupils) as if they would be working in factories. How many people work in factories nowadays? Most people work in services. In the last 20 years, jobs based on know-how and information have gained more importance.

The question is why does the contemporary education system still use methods from the time of the industrial revolution and produce products instead of people? How is it possible to change it?

For whom contemporary education system is the most detrimental

The contemporary education system is based on that each pupil is taught the same with the same methods and processes. This is carried out by teachers. It is the most detrimental to pupils who deal with problems with their own methods and processes (Even though they reach the same set targets).

It also hurts pupils who are curious and want to know more. It makes them to ask questions. They ask teachers. If teachers are asked questions, they don’t know answers for (They haven’t found it in encyclopaedias.), it can be perceived as interfering with the authority of teachers. Another issue is that pupils as a group (a class) adapt to such a norm due to group dynamics (bandwagon effect).

Would we have bulbs and steam engines if Edison or Watt had been taught this way?

Probably not, because it would have killed their spirit of curiosity and experimentation outside the bounds of standard school norms. Perhaps, we would still be burning people on a stake for different views.

Self-determined and self-directed learning

Self-directed and self-determined learning are a way how to get out of this vicious (industrial) circle (or a girder manufactured in a factory).

In Self-determined learning, pupils choose what they would like to learn, set their own learning targets and methods. They find out how to learn, which resources they need and they also evaluate the output of their learning on their own. This approach can be quite radical.

The less radical approach is self-directed learning. It means that teachers / educators set targets of learning. For example: Program a calculator in Python and pupils will reach / get to the target own their own.

If we translate the aforementioned specialized terms to the plain language, they practically mean to learn how to learn. The self-determined learning (the higher level) means to learn how to learn + to know how to choose and what topic/area/field to learn and why.

In fact, both terms can be unified under a term autodidact – meaning being capable of choosing what to learn and finding a way how to learn and evaluate the output.

Self-directed learning doesn’t mean cooperation and socialisation are excluded

What do you imagine when you hear the term autodidact? The general notion about autodidacts is that they work alone in their workshop / laboratory. It is a myth.

On the other hand, autodidacts know which materials to study, which people to meet and which institutions to cooperate with. In other words, they cooperate with other people and institutions. They learn socially in a community. Pupils can become a member of a club or a learning society. They will meet other like-minded people and pupils there who have the same (learning) targets.

One of the basic functions of schools is to socialise pupils and teach them how to cooperate among each other. They don’t miss this aspect in the self-determined and self-directed learning.

Unfortunately, autodidacts can come across misunderstanding from institutions. They may be perceived as outsiders which are not a part of their pack. It would be good to remove this obstacle.

Not for all and not in all circumstances

There are many factors to consider when assessing whether pupils are capable of self-learning and choosing what to learn:

Circumstances

Pupils can learn a lot of stuff from one area on their own. There may be another area where they can even choose what to learn. On the other hand, there can be areas where they are capable neither choosing nor learning on their own. The reason behind it is that they may have sufficient knowledge and skills is some areas and insufficient ones in other areas. Stressful environment which is not suitable for learning is an another detrimental circumstance.

Four phases of progress towards self-directed autodidact

Pupils progress through four phases during the process of becoming a self-determined learner:

Phase I.

Pupils are dependent on teachers and ask for a teacher-centred approach. Learning is unidirectional. From teachers towards pupils. Teachers are there to pass on knowledge based on predetermined criterion, targets, methods and processes. Pupils are not capable of self-directed learning at this phase.

Phase II.

Pupils are interested in learning at this phase. Teachers should be motivators and guides. Pupils share their interests and answers on motivational question from teachers with teachers. Pupils are somehow capable of interpreting and sharing their notions.

Phase III.

This is a transitional phase. Teachers are mediators / facilitators. Pupils participate via discussions what will be taught at classes. They are eager to learn how to learn. Teachers help them with a transition towards self-directed and self-determined learning.

Phase IV.

Pupils are used to learning in the self-directed and self-determined way. Pupils can choose what they would like to learn. They know and use standards of output evaluation without a need to consult a teacher or an expert.

They can bear the responsibility for their own learning, direction and productivity. Teachers are those who cultivate the skill of learning in pupils.

It is important to assess pupils and put them in the right category (phase) based on their capabilities, direct them and help them the right way. If it wasn’t like that, it would cause either frustration or boredom, and they wouldn’t be capable of carrying on.

Thus, it is advisable to adapt to it. It is also important to take into consideration that not all pupils can get to such a high cognitive level.

Labourer vs specialist

The need for the self-determined and self-directed learning is more desirable / needed among white collar jobs. On the other hand, blue collar jobs (labourers) don’t have such strong a need for it. They predominantly learn from observing others around them and learn from them (by mimicking). They adapt to it.

It is necessary to differentiate between those who need such skills and who don’t need them. It doesn’t make sense to push on those who don’t need the self-determined and self-directed learning skills relating to their status, career (an office worker vs a labourer) and cognitive abilities.

I know a lot, but I don’t have a degree

There are experts who have the necessary knowledge and skills and don’t have a formal degree. I think it would be a good move to introduce a framework in which anyone with necessary skills can get a degree by proving their knowledge and skills in front of a committee. Neither Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs had a degree and didn’t finish university. However, they have changed the world more than many university-educated people.

Paradox of choice

When pupils have many options and opportunities, it is liberating. It also introduces a paradox of choice which is limiting and weakening. It becomes a tyranny of choice. It is necessary to set parameters (framework) for what to choose to learn so that pupils don’t go mad from it.

Why change in today education system is necessary

The contemporary educational system has become less useful when searching for a job, doing business and in real life. And it is not getting better. Many times, it doesn’t reflect the real desires of pupils for knowledge and skills. The world has been changing rapidly value and technology wise. What pupils learn at school today can be useless tomorrow.

If education output (knowledge and skills) of pupils is not useful tomorrow and pupils don’t know how to choose what to learn and how to learn, it can happen to them, they don’t stand up to the future.

The self-determined and self-directed learning could help to overcome this problem. Pupils would be capable of choosing and studying on their own and effectively. Instead of hard facts, standardized processes and methods, an abstract model of how to learn which is applicable in all fields and times shall be passed to them. It makes sense when facts, standards and processes are getting obsolete every day and they may be useless tomorrow.

That is the reason why education system should move towards the aforementioned model and stop producing products, as a girder from a factory, like during the times of the industrial revolutions.

Conclusion

There are two extremes. The self-determined learning where a person chooses what to learn, how to learn it and evaluate their own output.

The second extreme is when teachers have the whole education process firmly under control. They are the ones who decide what is taught, how it is taught, which processes and methods are used and how to evaluate outputs.

Why not to balance these two extremes and use them together? It could help to modernize the education system and make it up to date in relation to contemporary society and technologies. It is also important to take into consideration cognitive abilities of pupils, circumstances which they are in and whether they need the self-determined and self-directed learning skills in their future.

More than 200 years have passes since the 1^st industrial revolution and 100 years since the 2^nd industrial revolution. It’s high time that the education system changed.