Developing Self-Directed Learners : a cognitive or sociocultural approach ?

The key readings used for the critique offered in this blog are found in the references segment of this blog.

In this blog, I want to share my views on a short piece of research on self-directed learning.

The authors Jossberger et.al (2008) discuss their research on difficulties and success factors in workplace simulations found in pre-vocational secondary education.

They begin by explaining the practice-orientated nature of the learning environments which meet the characteristics of learners whom they describe as ‘do-learners’.They situate their study by identifying the gap “problems students have in these workplace simulations have not yet been systematically investigated and analyzed…” They then identify several possible factors that interact to differentiate between successful and unsuccessful workplace learning.

They mention that the factors influencing learning could be rooted in student characteristics , learning environment or social environment. While they mention these factors, they do not identify the theoretical frame they intend to use in the study. Based on this , it seemed to me at the start that they would be approaching the study using a sociocognitive /sociocultural lens.

As the I read further, I realized, they collected data using focus group interviews and grounded theory as their analytic tool. Only then did it become apparent that they were using the sociocultural lens. Stating the frame at the start of the study would not have left the reader wondering why the study was incomplete ie why the sociocognitive aspect of the study was not addressed. In fact, they even mentioned cognitive regulatory processes to be important for the developmet of self-direction but did not mention.that it was not going to be addressed within the scope of their study.

In addition, it was rather misleading for the authors to have mentioned that “the interaction between the different factors makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful workplace simulation learning” and not study the interaction of the factors..

Next, I find the conclusions reached in the study contradictory and that this contradiction could have been avoided if more careful thought had been put into expounding the theory of learning that supported their theoretical frame. On the one hand they say that students who are ‘poor self-regulated learners’ will find workplace simulations to be difficult, and on the other they say in their findings that the environment provides clear instructions yet this “interferes with the idea of self-directed learning and students seem to be very dependent on the guidance.” Would it have been less contradictory if the authors considered how the structures scaffolded learning to help those who are ‘poor self-regulated learners’and then discuss how the scaffolds could be ‘released’ as the learners became more self-directed?

I close this segment by referring the reader to Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning and the concept of ZPD which I discussed in blog#2. It gives insight into the inevitable and delicate tension between guidance and independence in the development of self-directed learning.

Further to my critique above on the importance of articulating and thinking about our theoretical framework , I give references to 2 blogs below where I feel the authors should at some stage articulate what self-directed learning means to them. This will help clarify the theory of learning they adopt in their approach to developing self-directed learning. The authors of the 2 blogs seem to approach the development of self-directed learning quite differently. I would like to propose a consideration of a greater balance between the notions of ‘structure/guidance’ and ‘free choice/independence’ in the the authors' development of resources for developing self-direction..

Dave’s blog

Judith’s blog


Love to hear your views…..


Reference

Bentz, V. M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. London: Sage.

Cresswell, J. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among the 5 approaches. London: Sage.

Helen Jossberger, Saskia Brand-Gruwel, Henny Boshuizen, Margje Van De Wiel (2008). Self-Directed learning in pre-vocational secondary education: an analysis of difficulties and success factors in workplace simulations. Proceedings of the 8th international conference on International learning sciences

Kindfield, A. C. H. (2009). Situating cognitive/socio-cognitive approaches to student learning in genetics. Cultural Studies of Science Education, (4), 193-199.

Marshall, C., & Rossmann, G. (2006). The what of the study: Building the conceptual framework. In Designing Qualitative Research (4th ed, pp. 23-50). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.



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