Designing Learner-centered Instruction Practices Based on Transformative Learning through Critical Participatory Action Research

Abstract

The purpose of this critical participatory action research was to design the transformative learning activities from identifying “the shared felt concerns” of the student teachers. The participants include 13 student teachers, 6 pre-service student teachers, a lecturer, 2 mentors, and a technical expert; all voluntarily agreed to participate from a university located in the lower north of Thailand. The data was collected by various instruments (informal conversations, draft of plan, checklists, and field notes). The process of this study was to 1) establish “a public sphere”, 2) ask the critical questions with the communicative action, 3) identify “shared felt concerns”, and 4) design of the transformative learning activities. The results showed that there were 3 themes: first, fear of resistance towards teaching from students and a supervising teacher. Second, a lack of deep knowledge, experiences, and skills in the learner-centered approach, and third, student teachers were unconsciously passive learners. All themes led to design the activities for the 10 phases of the transformational process summarized as follows: starting with meditation, asking the critical questions, a metaphor for keeping a journal, round-robin discussion, group discussion, mind mapping, role play, building confidence and competence, and teaching in the actual classroom in the practicum experience. From these findings, it is recommended that establishing public sphere and communicative action through other activities or tools could support the participants’ self-reflection and learning.