The plausible myth of learner-centredness: or the importance of doing ordinary things well

It is widely accepted by many teacher-trainers and theorists that ‘student-centred’ methods are superior to ‘teacher-centred’ approaches. This article questions this orthodox wisdom. The author uses research by Lily Wong-Fillmore which suggests that lessons that can be jargonistically described as ‘teacher-centred’ or ‘teacher-fronted’ are far more effective than ‘student-centred’ ones. The aim of the article, however, is not to attack ‘student-centredness’ and praise ‘teacher-centredness’, but rather to suggest that the distinction between the two is often simplistic and misleading. Most of all, the author is concerned with the problem of accurately describing ‘good lessons’, and with the importance of doing ‘ordinary things extraordinarily well’.