Abstract
M.Ed.
Internationally in countries such as the United States of America and Australia,
there has been a shift in focus over recent years from essentially content based
education curricula towards education curricula which offer the opportunity for all
individuals to realize their potential, and that are capable of producing productive,
contributing members of society. According to the United States Northwest
Regional Educational Laboratory's most recent regional needs assessment
(www.nwrel.org/planning/rna2000.html), "helping students become self-directed
learners who take responsibility for their own academic performance" was ranked
near the top of identified priorities. The focus on developing responsible and selfdirected
learners extends beyond application to learning as cultivating
responsible and self-directed behaviours is clearly intended to equip learners
with responsible and self-directed behaviours and skills that in time will translate
to their emergence as responsible and self-directed adult members of society.
This is significant when considering the South African educational context, which
also forwards educational goals that reflect the values of the society and that
encapsulate the type of member of society that the educational system
envisages producing. Given the legislative framework of South Africa, the
resulting educational policies, as well as the importance of preparing learners to
participate and contribute to a democratic society, it becomes clear that the
development of responsible and self-directed learners is relevant to the South
African context.
Self-directed learning encourages individuals to take control of the learning
experience. This means that learners are given choices and encouraged to make
decisions as well as accept responsibility for associated consequences. Various
characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of self-directed and responsible learners
have been forwarded by various researchers in the field. Jones, Valdez,
Nowakowski, and Rasumssen (1995) suggest that responsible learners exhibit
behaviours such as setting goals and choosing tasks, and have the ability to plan
effectively and think ahead. Responsible and self-directed learners have been
identified by Long (in Hiemstra,1994 ) as having typical, common internal
personality traits or characteristics as well as characteristic external behaviours,
attitudes and responses. In addition to certain personality traits, specific kinds of
cognitive skills are identified by Long (in Hiemstra, 1994) as being particularly
important in successful self-directed learning. Self-directedness in learning is
then a term recognizing both external factors that facilitate a learner taking
primary responsibility, and internal factors that predispose an individual to
accepting responsibility for learning-related thoughts and actions, which are
characterised by particular traits, and skills that are demonstrated by responsible
and self-directed behaviours.