Exploring the Student-Centered Classroom Management and Self-Actualization Tendencies in Georgian Classrooms

Abstract

The demands of the 21^st century world have changed, these changes require the modernization of the tendencies almost in every field, including education. The demand of the globalized world caused the shifting of educational approaches from the conventional and traditional methods to more contemporary, person–oriented and challenging ones. Georgia is a developing country. The multi-ethnicity of the population makes its educational system to be more sophisticated and tailored to the population needs and contemporary challenges. Self-actualization is one of the best ways of students’ engagement and encouragement in the educational process and for their preparation as life-long self-directed learners. Adopting the student-centered approach in teaching enhances the process of students’ engagement in the classroom activities and their self-actualization. In order to find out the state of the student-centeredness and self-actualization in Georgian high schools the quantitative approach (4-point Likert scale questionnaire) was applied.  Eight schools from different regions of Georgia were involved in the research. The results from the research are positive enough: more than the half of the high school students in Georgian schools both in public and in private ones consider their classroom and the whole educational management more student-centered than teacher-centered. However, there is still much to be done for fostering and enhancing theses tendencies for making students learn in a really student-centered classroom environment and to make them more self-actualized.