We are delighted to share an endorsement of ICHK’s innovative Free Learning programme by world renowned educationist Yong Zhao.

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia.

He has written the foreword for the new book, Free Learning: A Student-Directed Pedagogy in Asia & Beyond, which has just been published.

It has been co-authored by Ross Parker, and includes chapters from Head of School Toby Newton, Head of Humanities Alex Hall and Learning Systems Specialist Sandra Kuipers.

You can read the foreword in full below.

Education needs no improvement. It needs a transformation. There have been many reform efforts in many countries over the years. The reforms have been trying to reduce the achievement gaps among students of different backgrounds. The reforms have also been trying to improve student learning. There have also been many new initiatives in the classroom, attempting to improve teacher efficiency. But the improvement has been minimal. Over the past few decades, neither has the achievement gap closed or has student learning improved much.

People have sought to transform education. The education we have today has been perfected for a society that has been transformed by technological revolutions and geopolitical changes. It has become the necessary mechanism to perpetuate the traditional social order. The public has been convinced that their children must go through the education, excel at the standardized testing, and follow all orders of the school and teachers in order to become successful in life. Schools continue the traditional model of learning: forcing a uniform and prescribed curriculum on all students. But this model has become outdated. There have been rising calls for helping students develop new skills for the 21st Century. There have been increasing recognition of the existence and importance of jagged profiles of human qualities in the new world. There have been numerous efforts to place students at the center of learning and undo standardized testing.

The learning revolution may be happening now. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the possibility of major changes in education. Teachers and students around the world have been forced to learn remotely, for various length of time since 2020. These experiences may not have been the best for all teachers and students but they have at least taught a few important lessons. First, learning can happen without having everyone in the same classroom. Second, there is an abundance of learning resources online. Third, learning does not have to happen within the confinement of school time. Fourth, learning can happen with partners and teachers from other schools and all over the globe.

We have come to a point when big changes, transformations can and should happen. It is thus a great pleasure to read the book Free Learning: A Student-Directed Pedagogy in Asia & Beyond edited by Ross Parker & David Coniam with Peter Falvey. With contributions from a large group of researchers and practitioners, this book presents the Free Learning model, an approach to promote student-directed learning. The authors define Free Learning as

an approach to learning that uses structured student choice in order to enhance engagement and motivation. Students are   offered independent access to a non-linear curriculum, consisting of a range of discrete units of study, each of which is connected  to one or more other units. Under the guidance of a teacher, students are encouraged to discover, plan and enact learning pathways through the available options.

I love the approach. Part of the educational transformation I have been advocating together with many others is students as owners of their learning (Zhao, 2012, 2018, 2021) and self-determined learning (Wehmeyer & Zhao, 2020). Free Learning changes the traditional model of learning by placing students as the owners. It gives students choices and “content is not taught to, but rather discovered by, students, who gain an enhanced degree of agency over learning.”

This book covers a wide range of issues related to Free Learning. The eighteen chapters together create a quite comprehensive picture of the new model of learning, from theoretical backgrounds to specific examples of implementation, from STEM delivery to teacher education, and from student experiences to evaluation. It is a book for scholars and teachers, as well as school leaders and policy makers interested in educational transformation.

I cannot say that Free Learning is the only transformation of education we need, but it is a new model of education that will help push educational transformation. Its focus on student agency and student direction in learning fits very well the current thinking about the future of education. Students, as natural born learners, are able to learn. Students, as diverse learners, need to make choices and take ownership. Students, as intentional learners, need to have purpose in their learning.

Wehmeyer, M., & Zhao, Y. (2020). Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Zhao, Y. (2012). World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Zhao, Y. (2018). Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All Children. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Zhao, Y. (2021). Learners without Borders. Thousan Oaks, CA: Corwin.