Child centred learning puts children at the centre of the education process. Teachers become facilitators rather than directors of education. In a child centred environment children are valued as individuals, they are active participants in their education and their entire well-being is considered in planning and providing education.

When the child is considered the centre or focal point of the education process each child is recognized as unique. The teaching becomes more flexible and teachers aim to provide experiences that their specific children will benefit from. No longer can one plan fit all classrooms and no longer is one teacher directing the whole show. Teaching becomes less important and learning becomes key.

In summary, a child centred education would:

• meet the needs of individual children and acknowledge their ideas
• have adults that act in the best interest of the child and family
• be concerned with educating the whole child, mind, body, heart & hands
• lead to the realization of each child's potential
• be inclusive of all children and celebrate their differences
• ensure that all children are tolerant of each other
• provide a safe learning environment where children's feelings are understood
• allow for individual expression, experimentation and risk taking
• treat children like the real people that they are
• offer a learning place where children are happy to attend and want to learn

"From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover you have wings." Helen Hayes

"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty ." Albert Einstein

LINKS:
The culture of a student centred learning environment. From the University of Colorado.
Learner-centered classrooms Problem-Based Learning, and the Construction of Understanding and Meaning by Students.
An article on child-friendly learning environments from UNICEF.