Learner Autonomy: Bird-in-the-hand or Bird-in-the-bush? by Samuel P-H Sheu

In life it's not easy to become autonomous because this means becoming independent and responsible.

We as parents, teachers, educators tend to protect or prevent our kids, or the ones we love from suffering.

Love is the key that we have to bear in mind when educating our children or students, and it means, teach them how to become independent or autonous.

Learning always takes place when people are free to take risks and experiment things by their own, yet it can lead them to success or failure sometimes. But failing is also part of the learning process.

It is always said that we have to teach our students to be independent and I have always thougt about how I could help my students become autonomous. Well, after reading Samuel P-H Sheu's article, Learner Autonomy: Bird-in-the-hand or Bird-in-the-bush?, I could confirm what I had in mind.

I learned how to be autonomous in university. There, I was free to make my choices and use my creativity, so innovation was the key. I felt I was part of the learning process and I was the owner of my destiny. It was up to me to take the decisions that would affect my future.

Professors always guided me in my studies and as a consequence I learned how to study.

Well, but now thinking about my students, how can I make them autonomous?

I know that we can take small actions to let autonomy take place in class, like let students read the instructions of the exercises by themselves, or self-correction or peer-correction.

I do believe that students will become autonomous by what teachers do in class, so do not be afraid of challenging and giving students tasks that will instigate their ability to think and/or process the information by their own. It is also vital that we give them options to make choices.

Beign autonomous not only means being an independent learner but also growing in life.