Is your child independent? Willful? Maybe even a little stubborn?
They’re not alone. Many, many children prefer to march to the beat of their own drummer. This is something to celebrate rather than correct — under the right circumstances, that is.
When it comes to designing learning environments for children who enjoy going at their own pace, self-direction is key. Learning centers like Delphian School, an Oregon K-12 institution with day and boarding programs, enable self-directed learning without giving up the rigor and subject-matter breadth that children of all ages need to become well-rounded, well-informed adults.
Is the “Delphian School model” right for your family? Consider these benefits, then think about how your child might respond to them, for better or worse.
1. Learners Don’t Feel Pressured to “Keep Up”
One of the most visible benefits of self-paced learning is right there in the name: that is, it allows learners to move at their own pace. This lessens the pressure they might feel to “keep up” with their peers in a larger classroom environment.
The main contrast with self-paced learning is “cohort learning,” according to eLearning Industry. Cohort learning still offers some opportunities for flexible pacing, but fewer and less impactful ones. Learners in cohort settings undoubtedly feel squeezed to stay on equal footing with others.
2. Teachers Can Go At Their Own Pace, Too
News flash: Teaching is hard. Really hard. And thankless. It’s no surprise that many young teachers burn out and leave the profession after only a few years.
If you care about keeping your favorite teachers in the game, you should think about their needs as well. And from that perspective, self-paced learning has obvious value because it allows teachers to teach at their own pace too.
3. More Opportunities for Personalized Learning
Self-paced learning is not exactly the same as personalized learning. However, just as self-paced learning lessens pressure on students to “keep up,” it makes it easier for teachers and parents — and sometimes students themselves — to design partly or fully personalized curricula. For students who thrive in a self-directed environment, this is an incredible, under-appreciated benefit.
4. Greater Ownership of Milestones and Achievements
Self-paced learners are more likely to feel like they “own” their achievements, big and small. Whether it’s completing a homework assignment on their own time or moving onto the next grade after passing their final exams, they’re more likely to see learning as a project in which they play an active role rather than something they have to do for eight hours, five days a week.
5. More Opportunities for Small-Group Work
Self-directed learning environments also create more opportunities for students to work in small groups, where they’re likelier to thrive despite differences in learning styles and work processes. Small groups enable a wider variety of learning activities, as well, including more complex projects that preview what students may be asked to do in college, postgraduate students, and in the “real world” of employment.
6. Room for Many Learning Styles in One Classroom or Cohort
Not all learning takes place in independent or small-group formats, even in truly self-paced programs. Yet those programs still make more room for a wider variety of learning styles than more rigid, cohort-based programs that ask all students to keep pace with one another. Students who learn differently have more room to thrive in larger groups, and get more attention from teachers and other education professionals, when they’re able to work at their own speed.
Set Your Own Pace
Self-paced learning, by definition, allows learners to move at their own pace.
This is not always a good thing. Sometimes, kids benefit from remedial instruction that helps them “catch up” to peers and meet key reading, writing and mathematical milestones.
But self-paced learning isn’t something to wave away just because it’s an unfamiliar concept. It’s entirely possible that your child will thrive in a self-directed learning environment, more so than in a more traditional classroom setting. You won’t know until you give them the opportunity.
Of course, selecting a school is a monumental decision, and self-paced vs. cohort learning isn’t the only consideration you need to make the right call. As long as you listen to your child and keep an open mind about what’s best for them, you can be confident that you’re setting them up for success.