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Is your classroom student-centered or teacher-centered?

March 23, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

Is your classroom student-centered or teacher-centered?

As a teacher who loves teaching, I sometimes find myself talking to my students. A LOT. I look around and discover that I am doing WAY more work than they are! I have to constantly examine my practice and make sure that my classroom is as student-centered as possible. As a teacher, it’s my job to CAUSE LEARNING, not just cover curriculum.

Below, you will find some qualities of student-centered classrooms. While no classroom has ALL of these qualities ALL of the time, we should strive to have our classroom exhibit these qualities as much as possible. How many can you check off? 

1. Teacher talk time is minimal

2. Students are actively, authentically involved in the lesson or class work of the day

3. Students are in control with teacher guiding the learning (teacher is not the “sage on the stage”)

4. Students have opportunities to demonstrate mastery in multiple ways

5. Students struggling with mastery have multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery

6. High performing students have opportunities to extend their learning

7. Students hold themselves accountable for completing tasks

8. Mastery and tracking of objectives is a transparent process to students

9. Lessons are created and paced based on student needs and current student data

10. Students engage in class, partner, and group discussions with minimal input from the teacher

11. Student goals, work, and progress are posted and celebrated

12. Students work with challenging, authentic real-world material

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