Because the world's diverse information base is expanding at a rapid rate, teachers cannot limit their classes to narrow lists of information or sets of readings. Although students use certain resources, they also know that a much larger body of resources exists and that they can gain access to these resources. Individualized, learner-based pedagogy requires that students have access to a variety of texts through libraries and other sources. Knowledge is more than a mastery of facts and processes. It includes an understanding and use of these facts and processes in historical, social, political, and personal contexts.
Students bring substantial knowledge to the classroom.
Teachers build on that information. Through language, students make meaning and come to understand and define themselves. Through language, they communicate their sense of the world, function with others, and get things done. Through language, they exercise power over the world. Students' language is valued and used as a means of learning, change, and growth within the classroom.