Empowering Student Ownership of Learning

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It is challenging when kids are not interested in school or learning. Some kids are not dissuaded by bad grades or reprimands.

This is why it is important to empower students to take ownership of their learning.

Let’s go over what it means for students to own their learning, the benefits, student ownership strategies, examples, and how parents and tutors can help empower student ownership of learning.

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What does it mean for students to own their learning?

Student ownership of learning means that students take responsibility for and are actively involved in their learning and education. They take an active role in deciding what they learn, how they learn it, and what they want to achieve.

Students know why they are learning something and the strategies that they need to learn it. They make decisions about what they learn, set goals, and track their progress.

Student ownership of learning means they work with their teacher (or tutor) to co-facilitate learning.

Benefits of students taking ownership of their learning

There are many benefits of students taking ownership of their learning, including:

Increased student engagement and motivation to learn
A deeper understanding of the material since students are encouraged to apply what they are learning to different contexts and make connections to previous knowledge and their own lives
It gives students more choices and autonomy.
Teaches students initiative and perseverance
Helps students be more confident
Students ask more questions.
Better academic success and higher grades
They are more invested in learning since they have a sense of ownership or control.
More responsibility and agency over their learning and progress
Encourages goal setting and self-reflection
Improved critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills
Students identify their strengths and weakness and take steps to improve their performance.
Education feels more meaningful.

Student ownership strategies

You can encourage student ownership by engaging students’ interests and giving them more responsibility and autonomy. Let’s look at some strategies for student ownership:

Illicit interest in what you are learning about by giving hints about the topic and starting with an interesting fact, example, experiment, or game
Make lessons more engaging by adding visuals and interactive elements and relating the topic to the real world. Challenge them.
Set clear learning objectives. Let students know what is expected—the skills they need to gain, what they need to learn, and what they need to be able to do.
Ask students to track their progress.
Show students how to find reliable information.
Teach organization skills to save information and ideas.
Teach study skills, such as taking notes, keeping a planner, setting a regular study time, and breaking down assignments into manageable chunks.
Encourage students to ask questions (or have everyone ask a question).
Encourage students to investigate things they are interested in or have questions about.
Provide choices, such as choosing topics, reading materials, assignments, or how they will demonstrate their learning (a test or other form of assessment).
Encourage collaboration with group projects, group discussions, and peer feedback.
Students set goals and reflect on their progress. They identify areas where they need to improve.
Help students learn from their mistakes. Ask them what mistakes they made and what we can learn from this.
Ask for ideas for topics they want to learn about and assignments they want to do.
Teach students strategies to find help if they don’t understand something.
Provide feedback and rewards.

Strategies to tailor lessons

You can tailor your lessons to foster student ownership by:

Adjust lessons based on what the student is interested in and where the student is struggling.
Consider the different topics that could help you reach your learning objectives and give students a choice.
Ask students what they want to practice again.
Provide basic information on the topic and encourage them to go deeper, compare it, or make connections.

Strategies for assignments

Allow students more flexibility with their assignments by asking students to:

Design their own projects. The projects can be about the required skill you are learning, but they relate it to something they are interested in.
Find one additional resource or example.
Teach and explain the topic back to you.
Make connections to the real world and other knowledge they have.
Compare and contrast opposing viewpoints.
Talk to family or friends about the topic and take notes, take pictures, find ways to relate it, and share the information.
Choose between different assignments, such as presentations, songs, poems, journals, dioramas, debates, writing, drawing or diagrams, and making a video.
Create a study guide or test questions.

Students can even grade themselves either using peer feedback or self-assessment. You can give them a rubric, and they have to show that they met each requirement. If you disagree, give them a chance to argue their point and then make the final decision.

Student ownership examples

Student ownership is an approach to their education of being responsible and actively involved. Some examples of this include:

Student-led projects: the students design their own projects. These could be research projects, service projects, or creative projects like making a movie or writing a book.
Student-led discussions—they lead and facilitate the discussion, share their perspectives, and come up with discussion questions.
Students teach—they recap and explain the topic. It is up to them to explain the concept.
Students ask for help—they identify how to find help if they don’t understand. They can find other resources or ask their peers, teachers, tutors, and parents.
Student-led conferences—the students present their work and discuss their progress
Self-assessments and reflection—students reflect and set goals.

How tutors can help foster student ownership of learning

Tutors have much more flexibility to tailor lessons to what the student needs more practice on. They can allow students to decide what they want to learn about.

For example, if they love Star Wars but need to learn about metaphors, you can make metaphors related to Star Wars.

Tutors can help students set goals and track their progress by journaling or using assessments.

One-on-one, students can ask more questions and make more choices.

You could select the topic and allow students to pick the reading material.

How can parents help students take ownership of their learning

Parents can help students take ownership of their learning by:

Being a learner themselves and modeling that for their kids
Starting their kid’s love of learning young by making learning fun and engaging well before they start school
Instilling the value of education and learning
Encouraging kids to think for themselves and ask questions
Providing resources such as books or online access to explore their interests
Signing them up for clubs or activities in their interests
Creating a supportive environment where they encourage, praise, celebrate their successes, and learn from their mistakes.
Having high expectations but encouraging kids to set their own goals
Letting the kids take responsibility for their schoolwork. Let them decide when to do their homework and study. Let them do their homework themselves and get answers wrong. Teach them to ask for help and face the consequences if they don’t do it or get it wrong.
Communicating with their teacher (or tutor) to work together on their child’s education