Abstract
Autonomy in learning has long been part of a broad range of educational philosophies. It is currently identified as crucial to the development of lifelong learning in ‘the learning society’. Furthermore, it is often regarded as a defining trait of all sustained learning that attains long-term success. Autonomy is both a goal of higher education and an educational approach to secure that goal. The creation of the European Higher Education Area and the implementation of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) each call for a learner-centered, meaning-based pedagogy which fosters the development of critical thinking skills. In this sense, pedagogy for autonomy becomes an indispensable element.
In this chapter, I will define how autonomy has been described in the relevant literature (definitions, broad and narrow, autonomy and independence, self-regulation and self-management). This will then be followed by an overview of its manifestations in the curriculum. Special attention will be devoted to constraints in the implementation of pedagogy for autonomy and the need to find spaces for manoeuvre. The EHEA calls for a notion of pedagogy based on the scholarship of teaching and learning (Shulman, Four-word: against the grain. In: Huber MT (ed) Balancing acts: the scholarship of teaching and learning in academic careers. http://www.carnegiefoundation.org (January 21, 2009), 2004) as a lodestar in contexts where research is mostly disciplinary and detached from teaching.
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Notes
- 1.
Brockett and Hiemstra (1991: 29) define self-direction as the “characteristics of an individual that predispose one toward taking primary responsibility for personal learning endeavours”.
- 2.
Andragogy is the art and science of helping adults learn. As Jarvis (1985) puts it, for Knowles, education from above is pedagogy, while education of equals is andragogy.
- 3.
By far the most influential and persuasive voice in self-concept theory was that of Carl Rogers. He introduced an entire system of helping built around the importance of the self. In Rogers’ view, the self is the central ingredient in human personality and personal adjustment. Rogers described the self as a social product, developing out of interpersonal relationships and striving for consistency. He maintained that there is a basic human need for positive regard both from others and from oneself. He also believed that individuals tend towards self-actualization and development so long as this is permitted and encouraged by a conducive environment (Purkey and Schmidt 1987).
- 4.
In this model of identity, the upper, higher level of rationality controls the lower level of personality, the domain of choices, plurality and even contradictions.
- 5.
Organizational autonomy support (e.g., allowing students some decision-making role in terms of classroom management issues), procedural autonomy support (e.g., offering students choices about the use of different media to present ideas), and cognitive autonomy support (e.g., affording opportunities for students to evaluate work from a self-referent standard).
- 6.
See Prince (2004) for a review of the literature on active learning.
- 7.
“Summarized by three P’s, our professional interest, our pragmatic responsibilities, and the pressures of policy. Scholarship of teaching and learning supports our individual and professional roles, our practical responsibilities to our students and our institutions, and our social and political obligations to those that support and take responsibility for higher education” (Shulman 2000: 53).
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Raya, M.J. (2013). Exploring Pedagogy for Autonomy in Language Education at University: Possibilities and Impossibilities. In: Pérez Cañado, M. (eds) Competency-based Language Teaching in Higher Education. Educational Linguistics, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5386-0_8
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