All Children Count: Early Mathematics and Science Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Overview report

March 2016

The main message is that mathematics and science achievement improves when students are at the center of the learning process. This means that the teacher guides the learning process, keeping class discussion focused on the content while encouraging divergent thinking. Studentcentered learning approaches also typically include scientific or mathematical reasoning, experimentation, group work, and dialogue. Some authors refer to this type of teaching approach as "student-centered discovery" or "student-centered inquiry", while others simply call it hands-on learning. Whatever the term, this type of teaching method is a sharp departure from teacher-led demonstrations and the simple transmission of concepts and facts.