Studying the Learner

The first source of objectives is the learner. To use it, a developer studies learners to find the gap between where they are and where they should be, and turns those gaps into objectives. This chapter defines what a need is, shows how to study learners across the aspects of their lives and through their interests, lists the methods for doing so, and explains how to read the data without jumping to conclusions.

Defining Need

A need as the gap between a desirable norm and a learner’s present condition, and Prescott’s physical, social, and integrative needs

Why Study Learner Needs

Why the school should fill gaps rather than duplicate home learning, and how to divide life into aspects for investigation

How Learner Data Varies

Why some needs are common to all children while others vary from school to school, and how to combine general and local studies

Studying Student Interests

Why interests matter for objectives, why they are not enough on their own, and how desirable and undesirable interests differ

Methods for Studying Learners

The methods of investigation: observation, interviews, questionnaires, tests, records, and the participation of teachers and learners

Inferring Objectives from Data

How to read data for implications, why objectives are never automatic, and how to tell educational needs from social ones