Building Autonomous Learners

This edited work presents a collection of papers on motivation research in education around the globe. Pursuing a uniquely international approach, it also features selected research studies conducted in Singapore under the auspices of the Motivation in Educational Research Lab, National Institute of Education, Singapore. A total of 15 chapters include some of the latest findings on theory and practical applications alike, prepared by internationally respected researchers in the field of motivation research in education. Each author provides his/her perspective and practical strategies on how to maximize motivation in the classroom. Individual chapters focus on theoretical and practical considerations, parental involvement, teachers’ motivation, ways to create a self-motivating classroom, use of ICT, and nurturing a passion for learning. The book will appeal to several different audiences: firstly, policymakers in education, school leaders and teachers will find it a valuable resource. Secondly, it offers a helpful guide for researchers and teacher educators in pre-service and postgraduate teacher education programmes. And thirdly, parents who want to help their children pursue lifelong learning will benefit from reading this book.

Autonomous Learner Model Resource Book includes activities and strategies to support the development of autonomous learners. More than 40 activities are included, all geared to the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development of students. Teachers may use these activities and strategies with the entire class, small groups, or with individuals who are ready to be independent, self-directed, lifelong learners. These learners have the passions, abilities, skills, and attitudes to go beyond the regular curriculum and take control of their own educational pathways. Field-tested strategies and activities in the book include Find Someone Who, Teacher and Learner Questionnaires, Lifelong Notebook, Time Capsule, and Night of the Notables.

In recent years teacher leadership has undergone one major revolution and is in the process of undergoing another. The first came about as schools turned out to be far too complex for the responsibility of formulating and achieving their goals to be vested entirely in principals and head teachers. As a consequence, the rise of distributed leadership as an alternative model for understanding schools and their functioning is now commonplace. The second major revolution affecting teacher leadership is the rise of the Internet and ICT, and the way these give rise to greater and more flexible opportunities for students to become autonomous learners. Autonomous student learning now occurs in significant new ways and under parameters that are far more expansive than school-based learning. An effective model of teacher leadership thus needs to capture these changes in order to reflect the new realities of student learning and student engagement with their schools.

The book investigates interest groups and various learning circles, Reading Circles (RCs) learning opportunity in particular, as a mode of in-class and beyond class autonomous learning in the context of English Language Teaching (ELT) at tertiary level in Oman, and in similar contexts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This investigation presents learners’ positive perceptions of learner autonomy and their readiness to adopt related practices. Building on findings from these RCs, the book introduces collaborative learner autonomy (CLA) as a novel concept of learner autonomy for use in educational contexts in the MENA region. As a concept of gradual development of learner autonomy, the CLA represents a new dynamic learner autonomy development process consisting of individual, competitive, collaborative, and autonomous stages. The CLA advocated in the book emphasizes the constructive role of teachers and educational institutions can play with other stakeholders in developing autonomy in their learners. The book also suggests that it is a shared responsibility that students, teachers, educational establishments, families, society and the educational systems should assume in a spirit of partnership.

For nearly two decades, Professor Michael K. Ponton and Paul B. Carr have formulated discussions of self- directed and autonomous learning by building upon the conceptual frameworks provided by Professors Emeriti Gary Confessore (learner autonomy and conation) and Albert Bandura (social cognitive theory, human agency, and self-efficacy). Using an agentic perspective of personal agency to describe learning, the agent as a learner engages in forethought to adopt goals of personal value and formulate learning plans; reacts to this ideation by enacting plans; reflects upon consequences and outcomes; and uses this acquired information to inform future learning plans. Their work and that with their colleagues has included both theoretical discussions and original research. This edited compendium, primarily consisting of previously published articles, is the result of those efforts.

First Published in 1987. The assumption about the purpose of education, to which the authors of this book subscribe, is that it is to produce autonomous lifelong learners. This book is about a very important goal of education and how it can be translated into practice. It concerns ways in which teachers in higher education can enable students to become more autonomous in their learning; that is, assist students to learn more effectively without the constant presence or intervention of a teacher.

In this lively, research-based book, award-winning educator Larry Ferlazzo tackles everyday classroom challenges with creative instructional techniques to help middle- and high-school teachers develop self-motivated and high-achieving students. The practical tips, online resources, and mini-lessons in this book encourage students to take charge of their own learning, boosting their success in and outside of the classroom. Detailed lesson plans in every chapter align with the Common Core English Language Arts Standards and cover a variety of valuable skills, including: Personal responsibility and perseverance Social and emotional learning Standardized test-taking strategies And much more!

This book looks beyond the classroom, and focuses on out-of-class autonomous use of technology for language learning, discussing the theoretical frameworks, key findings and critical issues. The proliferation of digital language learning resources and tools is forcing language education into an era of unprecedented change. The book will stimulate discussions on how to support language learners to construct quality autonomous technology-mediated out-of-class learning experience outside the classroom and raise greater awareness of and research interest in this field. Out-of-class learning constitutes an important context for human development, and active engagement in out-of-class activities is associated with successful language development. With convenient access to expanded resources, venues and learning spaces, today's learners are not as dependent on in-class learning as they used to be. Thus, a deeper understanding of the terrain of out-of-class learning is of increasing significance in the current educational era. Technology is part and parcel of out-of-class language learning, and has been a primary source that learners actively use to construct language learning experience beyond the classroom. Language learners of all ages around the world have been found to actively utilize technological resources to support their language learning beyond formal language learning contexts. Insights into learners' out-of-class autonomous use of technology for language learning are essential to our understanding of out-of-class learning and inform educators on how language learners could be better supported to maximize the educational potentials of technology to construct quality out-of-class learning experience.