Argument 1 In the article, “Teaching Learners to Be Self Directed,” Grow (1991) presents his Staged Self-Directed Learning model. This model, based on Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model (1998), proposes that learners advance through various stages of increasing self-direction and that teachers can enhance or detract from their learning and development. Grow asserts that good teaching matches the learner’s stage of self-direction while helping the learn advance to a level of greater self direction. Grow’s SSDL model provides four stages of self-direction learners advance through: Stage 1, Dependent, Stage 2, Interested, Stage 3, Involved, and Stage 4, Self-Directed. The model also identifies the style of teaching that works best for each stage. Stage 1 learners work best with an authority or coach. Stage 2 learners work best with a motivator or guide. Stage 3 learners work best with a facilitator and Stage 4 learners work best with a consultant or delegator.
Grow’s (1991) main premise is that self-direction is of the highest value, however, there is also nothing inherently wrong with a dependent learner. Any stage of learning is not right or wrong, but the more self-direction, the higher value. He explains that there is more than one way to teach well, and that in most cases, good teaching is situational because it varies in response to the learners. An important assumption also is that, just like dependency is a learned behavior, so is self-direction. Grow also mentions that all styles of teaching have value and are necessary at various levels of learning, often all in the same course.
Mark Tennant (1992) presented an article in which he disagreed that Grow actually believed that the various levels of learning are valuable. Tennant pointed out that Grow repeatedly referred to Stages 1 and 2 as “lower levels” meaning they have less