Professional Development

Self-Directed Learning

Building Learner Agency

Let’s empower your educators!

Self-directed learning is more than a buzzword.

It is a powerful approach that enhances student engagement and sets teachers up for success. When students are motivated to seek out their own learning opportunities, they become active and engaged participants with a positive attitude.

Why It Works for Students

SDL puts students in the driver’s seat. When students have a say in what and how they learn, they become more motivated, interested, and persistent. This sense of ownership empowers them to:

Set their own goals and create learning plans.
Manage their learning process and monitor their progress.
Feel a sense of ownership of their learning.

The 5 Dimensions of Self-Directed Learning

Self-Awareness	Initiative and Ownership	Goal Setting and Planning	Engaging and Managing	Monitoring and Adapting
“What kind of learner am I?”	“How can my personal interests help me in my studies?”	“How can I develop action steps to achieve my tasks?”	“What am I learning about finding resources, using my time wisely, and seeking help when I need it?”	“Am I able to see when something isn’t working well, then adjust, and learn from it?”

How Teachers Make It Happen

As an educator, you can teach students to learn as independently as possible. It starts with building a learning community that promotes student choice and gives students a voice in their learning. Here’s how you can make it happen:

Offer choices in meaningful learning activities.
Align instruction with students’ individual strengths and abilities.
Emphasize mastery over perfection.
Provide supportive, ongoing feedback through meaningful dialogue.

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A School-Wide Approach

Skills are Mapped: Skills are mapped across grade levels, so students can practice them explicitly as they progress through school.

Accessible Resources: Learning resources are easily accessible to all students, giving them the tools they need to explore topics independently.

Safe Environment: Students feel safe to explore, experiment, and take risks without fear of failure.

Engaging Instruction: Instruction is designed to actively engage students, giving them ownership of their learning journey.

Flexible Classroom Spaces: The classroom is designed to support student exploration and engagement with flexible learning spaces.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Supports are based on UDL guidelines, ensuring every student has the opportunity to participate and succeed.

Self-Directed Learning Blog Posts

Our blog posts offer practical strategies and fresh ideas to help you empower your students.
Dive in and discover how to make learning more meaningful for every student.

The Culture of Noticing: Making Learning Visible

Self-directed learning flourishes when students can pause, reflect, and tune into their own thoughts and feelings during a lesson. This is what we call a culture of noticing. By consistently offering opportunities for students to show what they have learned and providing tools to support them, teachers can actively cultivate this environment.

Making learning visible requires students to plan, organize, and integrate their thoughts and emotions into their learning experience. Here are four simple, effective strategies that help teachers do just that:

Summarizing	Mapping	Imagery	Asking extension questions
Students create a written or digital summary of what they’ve learned. This can be a simple one-paragraph reflection or a more detailed outline, helping them organize their thoughts and solidify new concepts.	Students use tools like T-charts, Venn diagrams, or concept maps to arrange, group, and connect their ideas visually. This process helps them see relationships between different concepts and organize complex information.	Teachers can use a thought-provoking image to spark a discussion and get students to make initial observations. Alternatively, students can create their own images to visually represent their thinking and learning.	“What makes you say that?” or “Tell me more!” encourage students to reveal their thought process. This isn’t about getting the right answer; it’s about making their thinking visible and helping them reflect on their reasoning.

Putting Agency into Practice: Snapshots from our PDs

engaging students in learning — Middle school teachers working on a goal-setting activity.