[Herewith begins a series of 16 quotes from Jeanne Chall on the difference between teacher-centered and student centered pedagogical approaches. I became aware of Jeanne Chall through a post on Diane Ravitch’s Blog related to the “Science of Reading,” which remains a controversial concept, and the so-called (and stupidly called, in this writer’s estimation) “reading wars.” You may have listened to Sold a Story, Emily Hanford’s podcast series on this issue from American Public Media–which has also aroused controversy, and which the always perceptive and thoughtful Nancy Bailey has commented upon. Unfortunately, the book of Jeanne Chall’s Dr. Ravitch sites as an exemplar of theory and practice in reading pedagogy, Learning to Read: The Great Debate, appears to be out of print. I settled for the title sited below, The Academic Achievement Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom? (New York: The Guilford Press, 2002). I excerpted the subsequent 15 quotes posts from that book. Should you be interested in this material for your planning book for for discourses in professional development sessions, here is the typescript of the entire series of quotes.]
“Teacher-Centered: Knowledge from the past, present, and foreseeable future; skills important for the individual and society. A core curriculum based on the traditional disciplines of reading, writing, literature, mathematics, science, social studies, and art—arranged in an increasing order of difficulty.
Student-Centered: School learning should be based on the learner’s interests and needs. Theoretically, there is no required core curriculum that is arranged hierarchically. Subject matter is not structured. The emphasis is on the learning process and on a variety of subjects that are integrated to make them more meaningful.”
Excerpted from: Chall, Jeanne S. The Academic Achievement Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom? New York: The Guilford Press, 2002.
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