Becoming an “owner” in a learner-centred context: a Sri Lankan experience at a postgraduate taught course in management and technology
Journal of International Education in Business
ISSN: 2046-469X
Article publication date: 7 June 2022
Issue publication date: 23 September 2022
Abstract
Purpose
There is a need for a shift of the pedagogy to student-centeredness in the teaching–learning process of the higher education sector in countries such as Sri Lanka, where the education system is still identified with the dominant “teacher-centeredness” pedagogy. Within this backdrop, this study aims to understand whether a learner-centred teaching (LCT) can be practised effectively within a postgraduate taught course in Sri Lankan public sector university system.
Design/methodology/approach
Ontologically, this study is placed within the interpretivist paradigm and adopted qualitative methodology. Reflections and experiences of 2 facilitators and 63 participants were thematically analysed.
Findings
Four themes emerged from the data as key phases of LCT-based learning process, namely: “changing role of the facilitators,” “emerging a collaborative learning environment,” “creating a platform for contextualising the knowledge gained in class” and “becoming an owner of the learning.”
Originality/value
Within the learning process, participants became “owners” rather than “renters” because of facilitators maintaining low power distance and participants developing a sense of empowerment, leading to engaging in the learning process willingly. Further, this study shows how the classroom shifted from the state of learner-centred to learner-driven. These novel findings become the main theoretical contribution of this research to existing knowledge.
Keywords
Citation
Gunatilaka, H. and Jayawickrama Withanage, D. (2022), "Becoming an “owner” in a learner-centred context: a Sri Lankan experience at a postgraduate taught course in management and technology", Journal of International Education in Business, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 425-441. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-08-2021-0082
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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