Students perceptions about their role as learners in a semi rural school setting

Abstract

Schools exist because students exist. And as students are the most important people in education, we must take them into account when aspects like curriculum, methodologies or needs are analyzed. Moreover, it is essential for teachers, principals and communities in general to know who their students are and, in this way, improve for them. This research is a qualitative case study which explores how students perceive their role as learners in a semi-rural school setting by means of analyzing students ideas and reflections. It was carried out in a semi rural school setting with the participation of 10 students, who during the research were in the adolescence period. The analysis of data provided by them gave as a result a learners self-concept, which is composed by students own characteristics as learners, the ideal ones and, finally, a comparison between these two types of characteristics. Besides that, students perceive their role as learners in the interaction with their peers, who, due to the adolescence stage in which they are, influence these perceptions. Moreover, students role as learners is perceived as well as one that will give students better socio-economical conditions in the future. Finally, as a teacher-researcher, I could conclude that teachers, with their methodologies and personalities, influence students role as learners too.