In the autonomous classroom our starting point is not the textbook but the learners. We recognize that each member of the class has a history, interests, and emotional as well as educational and communicative needs. We also recognize that learning is not a simple matter of the unidirectional transmission of knowledge, skills, and expertise. On the contrary, it is a bidirectional process, for we can only learn anything in terms of what we already know. Learning is also a messy and indeterminate process, impossible to control except in rather superficial ways.
Learner autonomy comes into play as learners begin to accept responsibility for their own learning.
But they can do this only within the limits imposed by what they already know and what they have already become. In the autonomous approach, learning is anchored in the achieved identity of the individual learner and the interactive processes by which learners collaboratively construct their shared learning space. Learner Autonomy and Cultural Differences Discussion of learner autonomy has not been entirely positive. An extension of this argument claims that the methods used to foster the development of learner autonomy are likewise alien to non-Western pedagogical traditions. It is true, of course, that none of us can escape entirely from the cultural assumptions and practices that have shaped us.