The National Research Council of the U.S. defines learnercentered
environments as those that “pay careful attention to
the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that learners bring
with them to the classroom.” The impetus for learnercenteredness
derives from a theory of learning called
constructivism, which views learning as a process in which
individuals “construct” meaning based on prior knowledge
and experience. Experience enables individuals to build
mental models or schemas, which in turn provide meaning and
organization to subsequent experience. Thus knowledge is not
“out there”, independent of the learner and which the learner
passively receives; rather, knowledge is created through an
active process in which the learner transforms information,
constructs hypothesis, and makes decisions using his/her
mental models. A form of constructivism called social
constructivism also emphasizes the role of the teacher,
parents, peers and other community members in helping
learners to master concepts that they would not be able to
understand on their own. For social constructivists, learning
must be active, contextual and social. It is best done in a group
setting with the teacher as facilitator or guide.