2. Learning by Doing: A reflection on Learner Autonomy-Ajit Kumar Pradhan

Abstract

There are many incidents from our real life which provide opportunities for teachers’ professional development. This paper makes an attempt to relate how the world outside the classroom gives input for language teachers’ professional growth, especially creating awareness for learners’ autonomy

A Lesson for Learners’ Autonomy

It was just a usual morning walk, like any other day. Everything was repetitive, except one. Birds were chirping, a cool breeze was blowing and there was tranquility everywhere, except the three, busy with their usual morning work, indifferently ignoring the beauty of nature. When the city was curdling with deep morning-hour sleep, a poor mother with her two kids had already started working.

The mother had to pick up a few bricks on her head, not less than eight to nine pieces at a go, and had to walk a few steps to place them inside an under-construction building. It was surprising to notice that her two kids – a five-year old girl and the other a boy probably around a year – desperately wanted to give a helping hand to their mother.

The sister could manage to pick up a few bricks on her head to follow her mother’s steps. But, the youngest one, struggling to walk was interested to help his sister and mother in some way or other, but in vain. He was sobbing each time his mother and sister would leave him for a few seconds to keep the bricks in the right place. What makes the situation interestingly worth noticing is the mother’s conscious indifference towards her children’s willingness to help. Instead of being an ‘instructor’, she gave opportunities to let her children do whatever they wanted to do and in ways they wanted to do. She was of course helping them whenever they needed her support.

What do we learn from this situation as teachers, especially as language teachers? Can we put ourselves in the shoes of the mother and understand how to make our learners ‘autonomous’? Perhaps, the time has come to search for alternatives to methods rather than alternative methods.

References

Dam, L. (1995). Learner autonomy: From theory to classroom practice. Dublin: Authentik.

Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon. (First published 1979, Strasbourg: Council of Europe)