It’s common to come across situations where the idea of independent learning is being promoted. However, this can be quite a nebulous concept unless we break it down into actions that teachers and students can take. We want students to develop the attitudes and skills that, together, mean they can and will engage in learning processes in their own time, with effort and persistence in a generally self-motivated manner. Ideally students will feel that the are doing this for themselves to meet personal goals, but, realistically, it can take time for them to build the habits needed so this needs to be supported by structures within the flow of lessons that provide some motivational drive.
