Student-Centered learning as an educational paradigm has been helpful in centering the experience of the learner (especially as a priority relative to the institution, the state standards, or the classroom facilitator). However, it would be a mistake to presume that Human-Centered learning is just another way to describe the center of focus for instructional design or educational program development.
Human-Centered Learning as a descriptor was complete unless it recognizes the broader context each person brings to the learning experience. There is no such thing as a student – there are people (humans) who study. To define a human in terms of their role in an educational context limits the effectiveness of instruction as well as the intended outcome.
Human-Centered Learning builds on Student-Centered learning by defining the student (and the idea of education) more broadly in terms of human-ness and not just in terms of classroom functions or educational outcomes.
This is why both the Human-Centered Learning includes both a unique outcome (to know is to become), method (from wisdom to understanding, to knowledge), and emphasis on core dimensions of the human experience (physical, spiritual, psychological, and social). Without any one of these assumptions the theory falls apart.
The goal of Human-Centered Learning is to facilitate the individual in becoming who they are by inviting them to explore and develop their unique capacities. The method of instruction that begins with action, empowers individualized explanation leads to a form of knowing that cannot be replicated, mass-produced, or in any way separated from that individual person. In the age of ai, this kind of methodology will increasingly prove its value.
Finally, as wholistic models of learning have argued for awhile, this methodology and outcome must consider the diverse parts of the human experience from the material to the immaterial from the internal world to the external world. Who we are as humans seems to depend intimately upon our ability to access and thrive in each of these areas. It would be a mistake to assume that education which leaves out one the four parts can somehow achieve its goal.
In my own work as a program designer and curriculum developer, I do not always find it easy to break free of traditional models and paradigms – but especially from the idea of standardized outcomes. I want students to reach the same understanding that has enabled myself and others to achieve particular goals. Yet, as the world continues to change, I sometimes wonder if it is not more important to empower the individual with their own unique fluency in the art of learning rather then teaching them how to perform as a model student.
Both of these frameworks can center the student, but only one calls upon the fullness of their humanity.
If this content interests you, please reach out. I am looking for writers and researchers to help move this project forward on an ongoing basis. I have applied these theories to my own products and program design, but as AI enters the conversation, I think this topic has become increasingly important to share and explore more broadly!
Human-Centered Learning 