Grow's SSDL Self-Directed Learning Model

Grow, Gerald O. (1991/1996). “Teaching Learners to be Self-Directed.” Adult Education Quarterly, 41 (3), 125-149. Expanded version available online at: <http://www.longleaf.net>.
Used with permission. Original at http://www.longleaf.net

So often the time and space that is needed for student-centered strategies is lost in the constraints of the institution, the programming, and even the classroom itself.  Such as what is involved in Grow's self-direction spray label, as shown below. 

Also, check out Grow's model here http://longleaf.net/wp/cartoons/cartoons-on-teaching-styles/ Cartoons on Teaching Styles

From the article, “Teaching Learners to be Self-Directed” by Gerald Grow.  Available at: www.longleaf.net

Hope On the Yellow Brick Road

The learning journey for basic education students is very similar to following a yellow brick road similar to that in the Wizard of Oz. 

Adult basic education learners arrive to their courses to Glinda, the good witch saying, "It's always best to start at the beginning - and all you do is follow the yellow brick road."  Yet, this glistening and beautiful road of yellow, paved with good intentions, student-centered curriculum, integration of technology, and standardization to make sure everyone gets to the same destination, isn't the same road that the students see.

The road the students see, especially at the beginning, is one similar to what Dorothy and her entourage face on foot. It is a road that is scary and unimaginably long. A journey fraught with unexpected risks and high emotions. 

Students begin at a place where they "just want..." to ...go home, ..get a heart, ...get a brain, ...get courage, and achieve their academic goals.   Anyone who has worked with basic education students knows that these learners are the composite of the lion, the tin-man and the scarecrow. 

Adult basic education learners arrive with courage - a lot of it - to come back to school in order to make things better for themselves and their family.  Sacrifice and committing to school when you really weren't successful in the first place is, in a lot of cases, a lot like closing your eyes and stepping into the abyss.  The monsters that these learners left behind will often resurface. It might be addictions, abuse, teen angst and rebellion, teen parenthood, learning disabilities, inter-generational affects of residential schools, and/or mental health issues and disorders. Our learners are courageous. 

Our learners arrive with a huge heart full of fear, anticipation, hope. Getting to the heart of the matter, being heartfelt, are student centered approaches that led students to trust in their own strengths.     Very low self-efficacy has convinced them that they don't know how to learn.  Nor do they know how they learn, or recognize how much they already know.  They are convinced, like the scarecrow, that "I would not be just a nuffin' my head all full of stuffin'/My heart all full of pain" if they only had the brain for academics.  

Hope is really represented by that yellow brick road. We walk with learners through the perils, potential shortcuts, and winding avenues of their academic path, trying to mirror sentiments of 

Read more: Wizard Of Oz - If I Only Had A Brain/Heart/Nerve Lyrics | MetroLyrics  

What is "student-centered?"

What is student-centered?  No, seriously, what is student centered?  How does a teacher or administrator know he or she is making decisions that are truly student centered?

Simple Answer: by examining narrative - both the teacher's and the students'.

Explanation:  Narrative is the complex interconnection of experiences, categories, and influences that make up the individual.  Experiences range from where people are raised, how they are raised, where they went to school, who they learned from (formally and informally), social integration or isolation, and more. Categories are those labels that connect to identity - gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation. 

So with it being so complex and individualistic, how can we truly be student-centered? When we look at a top down hierarchy in an educational institution and start at the bottom, with the student, it should be easy.  As we move up the ladder to the pointy point at the top, where standardization is key to organizational continuity and capacity, it gets more difficult. 

The answer is to develop a number of ways for students to be heard. In courses we teach student exit slips, surveys, and opportunites for feedback about the course and activities is necessary.  

Programming needs to rely on more than just the one-off survey that a student may or may not take. Student advisory groups, information portals or emails that grab immediate feedback, a "how did we do today" dropbox.  

Narrative means having open-ended discussions. It centers on how individual is navigating a course or a program. Hearing beyond institutional guidelines and limitations can open the way to innovations and programming that centers truly on the student experience.