Self-Directed Learning

At one point, me and Self-Directed Learning (SDL) enthusiasts were at odds. My hesitance to the Self-Directed Learning Theory is rooted in my grief about the changing tide in education, which is driven by the strong currents of internet and technological advancements. These currents began churning during the Industrial Age where the Industrial Model of education caused the first inferences of 'teaching machines' to emerge as a solution for a more consistent learning outcome from students. Since then, it seems to me that the teacher has been slowly inched out of the education process by ed tech enthusiasts who believe that technology could do a more efficient teaching job than human teachers. "Decentralize the classroom!" they chant. "The internet can teach them more!"

The education system is one of many systems who have had to compete with internet-fueled decentralization; the internet has decentralized information dispelling the notion that formal learning institutions are the centers of high quality information. The decentralization of information has dethroned teachers and learning institutions, removing them as the gatekeepers of high-quality information and shoved them into capitalistic-driven moral bankruptcy for economic survival. Knowing that the student feels they can learn equally valuable information on the internet, learning institutions gravitate towards predatory admissions practices and pressure faculty to retain students through like-ability instead of through scholarly competence and relevant professional experience.

Witnessing the impact of information decentralization on both the student's and the teacher's self-esteem in the learning environment has been astonishing; students in the learning environment beam with confidence thinking they have learned something substantial through discovery-based learning tasks and teachers wither into babysitting roles while this occurs. As a teacher, I have felt extremely demoralized by this scenario's implication that, despite my education and professional experience (nevermind the blood, sweat, tears, and money spent), I had nothing to offer the learner except a pair of accountable eyes and the occasional nod of approval when making strides towards their own self-directed goals. Must the current of internet and technological advancements in education drown out the voice of teachers and the teacher-student symbiosis in service of student autonomy and affective experience while learning?

At least, Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky can contribute some comforting nuance to the SDL Theory with his Zone Proximal Development Theory, which posits that there is a level of learning that a person cannot do without help. Between the level of learning that a person cannot do without help and a person's current understanding, there is a Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotsky suggests. That zone is the level of learning that a person can indeed achieve with help. Whether that help is a human teacher of a learning experience created by a human teacher, there is hope that some semblance of teacher-student symbiosis can be preserved in SDL learning theory.

The nuance introduced by Vgotsky's Zone of Proximal Development Theory pumps the brakes on the SDL enthusiast's haste towards a future of education where teachers are merely glorified babysitters; the criticism of contemporary scholars pumps their breaks too. Mayer (2004) Kirschner et al (2006) Sweller (2009) Clark and Hannafin (2011) have definitely argued that the discovery-based, Constructivist learning strategies often employed by SDL are less effective than the directed learning approaches. Many of the skills a student needs for 'discovery' need to be explicitly taught, at some point. Mayer, Kirshner, Sweller, Clark and Hannafin have argued against SDL enthusiasts who feel that the management of both a student's motivation and cognitive load while learning is more important than prescribed skill outcomes supported by traditional instruction.

I'll be honest---both sides of the SDL debate make convincing, data-driven arguments and I am calmed by that as the teacher-student relationship has been under threat since the first mention of 'teaching machines' during the Industrial Era. I am disturbed by the passion of SDL enthusiasts and education technology enthusiasts who do not communicate as passionately about empowering teachers in the learning environment as they communicate about empowering students. The teacher-student symbiosis must be minded as closely as the student's affective experience while learning. I am studying Instruction and Learning Design at UMass to see what can be saved of this endangered relationship within the ecosystem of learning.