Sharing the Learning: Instead of Pushing More Responsibility for Learning onto Teachers, Let's Consider New Models in Which Students Assume Greater Responsibility for Their Own Learning

America's educational landscape features intriguing possibilities and daunting challenges. Instructional innovations present opportunities to enhance learning at the same time that external forces push teachers toward limited notions of teaching. Budget and accountability pressures have taken their toll on teacher morale, instilling a sense of anxiety in many educators. The need to prepare students for end-of-course tests frequently sends teachers on a 10-month slog through content, exhausting themselves and bewildering many students. This coverage-based, test-focused approach leaves little room for exploring interesting facets of material. Worse, many teachers pour energy into preparing PowerPoint[TM]-dominated lessons, forcing students to become passive recipients rather than active learners. The intentions behind accountability measures are worthwhile; teachers should assume responsibility for student learning. But today's accountability paradigm has forced teachers to take on too much work in the push to raise test scores. As a result, students sit stolidly while their Tasmanian devil teachers whirl about, feverishly trying to force them to learn. Yet, ironically, the same measures that cause teachers cold sweats do little to hold students accountable for their learning. Educators have been coming at this problem from the wrong perspective. Teachers don't need to do more; rather, they need to approach instruction differently. improve results, teachers must require that students assume more responsibility for their own learning. This is not so that teachers can shirk work; it is because students learn more when they're active participants in the classroom and in their own learning (Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978). Students should be challenged and made to grapple with content frequently if we want them to grow as learners and individuals. Teachers intuitively know that students should do meaningful and challenging work. But making this happen in the current educational climate can be difficult. Fortunately, several emerging styles of instruction suggest ways in which students can tackle a significant portion of the intellectual work of the classroom. Such approaches can move students toward curricular goals and promote learning in ways that current methods of instruction do not. We are not believers in a one-size-fits-all approach; a variety of instructional styles can contribute to learning. No single strategy will make it happen quickly, easily, and in all contexts. The fine details of any one approach to instruction aren't as important as the general idea of shifting more intellectual work from teachers to students. Therefore, an appropriate question to ask about any new teaching strategy is, To what extent will it increase student participation in and responsibility for the learning process? We assert that students who are more active participants in their own learning will, in the end, develop deeper understandings about content, learn more academic and life skills, and develop habits of mind that benefit them beyond the classroom. When teachers and students share responsibility for learning, schools will be more likely to produce the desired outcomes. So, what kind of work should students take on in the classroom? There are three key areas in which students and teachers can share the vital work of the classroom to advance student learning: through the promotion of intellectual rigor, a commitment to growth and improvement, and the development and maintenance of the classroom community. Promoting intellectual rigor Despite research suggesting students learn more when they're asked to apply, transfer, and reflect on content (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000), many teachers don't believe they have time to go beyond imparting the basic information needed for state assessments. Critical thinking skills and the ideal of the student-centered classroom still receive lip service in educational circles. …