Christine McPhail formerly served as president at Cypress College in California and is founder and professor emeritus of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University in Maryland. She is the Managing Partner for The McPhail Group LLC and currently serves as a Leadership Coach for more than a dozen community colleges…

Between 2001 and 2007 I conducted a self-study action research enquiry into my practice as a primary school teacher. The research had a collaborative aspect to it, in so far as my pupils and colleagues were invited to participate in the research, although I was the focus of the enquiry. I was unhappy about my teaching: I felt I dominated the…

This article presents an excerpt from a typed manuscript of one of many lectures Maria Montessori delivered in 1915 in San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. In this particular lecture, Montessori talked about how teachers can make a profound change in their way of teaching. Instead of doing the traditional lecture, teachers can learn how to…

Investigates three roles of the adult educator in light of varying conceptions of self-directed learning (SDL). Addresses the issue of when self-directedness is desirable and for what purposes. Suggests educational processes that foster SDL and discusses implications for future SDL research. (JOW)

Self-directed learning is reconceptualized in light of John Dewey's work. Although one would think that proponents of self-directed learning would turn to Dewey's philosophy of education to find support for the idea of self-directed learning, such is often not the case. Instead, advocates of self-directed learning frequently look to Carl Rogers…

Since the role of the adult educator has become so widely accepted as that of facilitator of learning rather than of content-transmitter, educators of adults should enhance their facilitating skills. An important concept for adult education then is self-directed learning, in which the learner plays the central role. The need for self-directed…

This article presents a definition of self-directed learning and a rationale for making it an essential goal in education. The adjustments needed in traditional teacher and student roles to achieve self-directed learning are considered. (SJL)

Effective individualized instruction depends primarily on the teacher possessing the skills to implement it. Individualization is therefore quite compatible with the traditional self-contained elementary classroom model, but not with its alternative, departmentalization, which allows teachers neither the time flexibility nor the familiarity with…

The author, who changed her French class from a traditional, teacher-directed format to independent study, explains the benefits she found in this new system, particularly in the change of her own role. (SJL)

When is a gifted child ready for the discovery of a new idea? When is this child ready for independent searching and inquiry? Sometimes in many traditional educational settings, it seems as if a student must wait until graduate school before he is allowed to carry out independent inquiry. At the turn of this century, there is more to learn and…

Describes an attempt to explore the process of movement from teacher-directed to self-initiated learning in a fifth-grade class. (Author/RH)

Draws parallels and distinctions between humanistic counseling and humanistic teaching. Emphasizes the different tactics needed to teach different subjects, the importance of getting to know students, and the benefits obtained from self-directed learning. Claims that everyone needs help in self-assessment and that teachers should teach students to…

This report is a compilation of the presentations given at a three-credit workshop on self-directed adult learning held July 14-25, 1980, at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. An introductory section overviews the workshop, the purpose of which was to initiate the development of policy guidelines for both facilitators of learning and learners…

Using the example of a ten-year-old boy working on a science project, the author discusses the question of when and how much the teacher should intervene and direct a child's independent learning activity. (SJL)

Autonomous language learning is justified by three arguments: the ideological, the psychological, and the economic. This paper discusses how teachers can use autonomous learning as an approach to the curriculum as a whole, bridging the gap between public classroom activities and private learning activity, and examining all practices from the…