Facilitating the emancipation of the learner

Abstract

Learner independency focuses on the learner’s ability to take responsibility for and to manage his/her learning processes. But this conceptualisation lacks an important component, namely the consideration of the learner’s movement towards becoming an emancipated learner, demonstrating a high degree of agency with a thorough meta-cognitive grasp of the quality of his/her actions. This article presents a theoretical basis for the process of learner emancipation and describes a model for conceptualising such processes. The model operationalises learning in terms of learner actions. Learner action is considered a function of theorising and practice, and four classes of learner action are distinguished, namely the actions of a consultant, a theorist, a practitioner and an entrepreneur. Examples from existing courses in Psychology illustrate how the core tenets of the model can be operationalised in practice.