78 LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHINGWhat Ma

78 LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING
What Makes It Hard to Move Over?
Despite intellectually understanding and accepting the need to move over, most of us, even those of us committed to learning, are still in the driver’s seat. We might squeeze over closer to the door and let students sit next to us, maybe even hold onto the wheel, but for all intents and purposes, we are still doing the driving. Why has it turned out to be so hard for us to let the focus be on students and learning? Consider several possibilities as they relate to faculty generally and you specifically.
First, we like having the main role. In many of us, there is a bit of the ham, maybe some frustrated entertainer. With a captive audi- ence, we simply cannot pass up the opportunity to show our stuff. I love to spin a tale, and as the years have accumulated, so have my stories. Some I have told enough that I have perfected the lines. On a good day, I can spin one of those yarns, and even virtually comatose students come to life with faint smiles and a reposition- ing of lead bottoms. I relish the challenge and feel a sense of accomplishment when raucous laughter sweeps the class. And stu- dents remember my stories. Years later when I meet them, they remind me of the “dishwasher” story. The problem, of course, is that they rarely have the point of the story then, and so all my ratio- nalization about stories being nails on which I hang all sorts of con- ceptual stuff (Amstutz, 1988) is really just an excuse for me to flaunt my storytelling prowess.
I do not think learner-centered teachers are forever forbidden from telling stories or whatever else they enjoy and do well in the spotlight. Besides, on some occasions, my stories do enable students to understand more easily. Rather, it is about honestly analyzing my motives (more critical reflection) for telling a story and making sure that I am telling it for right reasons, not self-serving ones.
Second, in addition to liking being at the center of the action in the classroom, we see the role of standing alongside learners as inherently less important than the one we have standing in front of them. But we are engaging in a bit of reality reconstructing here: we are not as essential and central as we like to believe. Despite expansive involvement in all aspects of instruction and student learning, we cannot guarantee delivery of the product. A student cannot be forced to learn, and a teacher cannot learn anything for