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Visions of Autonomous Learning
many countries. While these different terms are useful, because each of them indicates
special dimensions of the situation, I prefer go beyond them by calling the phenomenon
autonomous learning.
2.2. The Term »Autonomous«
The notion of autonomy encompasses many meanings, apart from the synonyms shown
here. We arrive at a deeper understanding if we are familiar with them. This term comes
originally from the area of constitutional law, where it means self-government, and it is
also used in a philosophical and educational sense. This disproves the hastily formed
opinion that autonomous learning is merely a technical-organisational peculiarity of
instructional design, in the same way as terms such as group, partner or individual
instruction are imagined. The narrowness of the meaning of the term 'self-controlled
learning', which is being used increasingly, may have led to this.
However, there is much more to it. The term autonomy is broad and has depth, because
it is anchored in our philosophical and educational traditions in many ways and has also
considerable psychological and sociological bearings.
2.3. Disciplinary Aspects
It is possible to identify characteristic perspectives of the term if we look at the way in
which it is used by these disciplines.
Educational: Learners are no longer the objects of educational guidance, instruction,
influences, effects, and obligations, but the subjects of their own education.
Pedagogical: Put more exactly, and with the help of pedagogical categories, learners are
always autonomous when they themselves take over and exercise the functions of teachers.
This means in other words that
“the students diagnose their own needs for learning, for formulating their own learning
objectives, identifying a variety of learning resources and planning strategies for
taking the initiative in using those resources, assessing their own learning, and
having their own assessment validated.” (Knowles, 1988, p. 5)
This statement is still valid. It describes a demanding task. Some people may even be
intimidated by it and others may think that autonomous learning is quite simply too
great a challenge. The whole thing appears to be even more difficult if we have a look at
the definitions of learning psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Barry Zimmerman:
Psychological: Learners are autonomous when they are “meta-cognitively, motivationally
and behaviourally active participants in their own learning processes” (Zimmerman,
1989, p. 4).
“Autonomous learners not only have to develop and transform cognitive structures
but also to change surface structures into depth structures, and to reflect
simultaneously on this process” (Lenzen, 1976, p. 15).
“Learners must be able to stand back and keep their distance from their own
actions, and to accompany them with critical contemplation” (Frey, 1995, p. 29).
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