Zanzibar – Form Two Format | Necta Exams – FTNA 2026/2027
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Thank you for including me in this discussion. I haven’t thought much about what makes a good learner but I have been able to spot them in the classroom. All of the previously mentioned responses are good descriptors. I would add a good learner has an appreciation of and a respect for the opportunity to learn. A good learner will seize moments to learn and can connect learning across fields..application of information. However, teachers ( myself included) often view the good learner as one who isn’t a problem in class, who carefully attends to their work, and completes tasks with precision. Yet, recently I find the unconventional student can often be the best learner. They are too curious to stay still, too vocal to allow for lectures, too thought-ful to stay on track, and given the opportunity, love to investigate in different ways from what has been planned. These are the true learners…the ones who often drive the teachers crazy!
I would disagree with the position that there could be universally applicable dispositions, characteristics or habits of mind. What makes a “good student” is certainly contextual, and depends on what the aims of education and underlying philosophy of education are! If you subscribe to the “banking theory” of education, and the aims are narrow, then yes, quiet, obedient, etc. would be desirable in THAT environment. If you take a critical or progressive view of educational purpose, you might instead look for students who are curious, contrarian, ask a lot of questions, take risks, etc. Having been a teacher educator for some years, I can say that the characteristics that one teacher views as negative (disruptive, trouble-maker, contrarian) can be viewed positively by another teacher (out-of-the-box thinking, engaged, etc.)