Toward Self-Directed Learning in the Secondary Classroom

Toward Self-Directed Learning in the Secondary Classroom addresses and explores the challenges teachers have faced and continue to face in a pandemic and post-pandemic context while attempting to implement self-directed learning in the secondary classroom. Drawing on contemporary research from around the world as well as candid interviews with educators in my own learning community, Canada, and other regions in the United States, I address both the challenges and successes teachers have experienced while attempting to guide students toward self-directedness. After establishing the relevance and need for self-directed learning in today’s educational context, I explore recent research on the subject that challenges outdated notions and calls for more relevant and contextualized, transformative iterations of it. Interviews with classroom practitioners reveal the need to address the foundations of social-emotional learning, intentional academic purpose, and sustainable structures of support before facing the daunting realities of contemporary education while helping students become people of inquiry.

Table of Contents:
Dedication Acknowledgements Foreword by Jay McTighe Chapter One: Shifting the Trajectory Chapter Two: More or Less Chapter Three: Yeah, But . . . Now What? Chapter Four: The Investment Chapter Five: Now What? Chapter Six: Coda References About the Author Index

About the Author :
Erik N. Powell is a full-time teacher at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington and an educational consultant.

Review :
Powell, a full-time high school teacher, realizes that in the post-COVID classroom, educators need to “help students become self-directed ... to invest in their students’ social-emotional needs before they could expect academic achievement.” Building on established frameworks like Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction, he advocates for preparing and guiding students to build their capacity for self-directed learning. After describing the participants in his learning community, both in his high school and among educational consultants, and their process of exploring the dynamics of self-directed learning, Powell identifies the three areas his group prioritizes: “relationship building that addresses social-emotional needs in authentic ways; intentional strategies to create purposeful learning experiences for all students; and ... methodical support that creates the scaffolding needed to make that purposeful learning happen.” His learning community provides curricular and educational reforms to explore authentic relationships, academic strategy, and structural support. Convinced that students need to develop skills for self-directed learning, he concludes that “school is not simply an academic clearing house, but rather a living, breathing community in which teachers and students build strategies together to grow as people of inquiry.” Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. An important read for all secondary educators, especially those flummoxed by systemic and pedagogical barriers to student-directed learning. Powell, informed by nearly 30 years of classroom experience, a deep literature base, and the voices of educators in the United States and Canada, provides a practical framework for helping students exercise greater agency in their formal education and beyond. Erik Powell, a well-respected master teacher, continues to search for innovative instructional methods to best serve the needs of children in the classroom. He saw the pandemic as a learning opportunity, and his book shares inspirational findings: self-directed learning is the key to successful secondary classroom student experiences. Powell proves through his research that self-directed learning will develop the independence and perseverance our children need to be successful beyond the walls of America's high schools. Through a masterful blend of theory, research, and praxis, Powell delivers practical insights on how teachers can support self-directed learning. This book is essential for all educators in search of actionable recommendations that account for the ever-evolving complexities of classroom instruction. For both veteran and novice teachers alike, Powell’s work provides an adaptable blueprint to cultivate students’ critical engagement and autonomy. Toward Self-Directed Learning in the Secondary Classroom provides practical examples and in-text exercises to encourage increasing self-directed opportunities and addresses the challenges one may encounter along the way. Powell’s encouraging narration using relatable scenarios from current educators inspires one to reflect upon their past and current practices with SDL and explore new opportunities for implementation. Dr. Powell acknowledges the myriad challenges facing today's educators while providing persuasive arguments and practical support for teachers to implement self-directed pedagogies both as a means to ameliorate these challenges and promote improved learning outcomes for students.