Revisiting the ‘Self’ in Self-directed Inquiry Learning: A Heuristic Case Study of an Independent Media Production Directed by Students

Self-directedness’ is a key feature in inquiry learning and in many forms of project learning activities, it has become overwhelmingly prevailing in an age saturated with discourses about the power of student voice and user-friendly digital technologies. This article calls for a more careful reading of the presumptions of ‘self-directedness’ in project learning activities. The case studied here is extracted from the author’s research which explores the ways in which media production practices can enable and limit young people to express themselves. The research findings show that there are different and sometime conflicting role models referenced by students in their ‘self-directed’ projects. It is argued that the notion of ‘self-directed learning’ is more a rhetoric than reality, and it might be more sensible to deeper understand the role of the production media and explore whether educators can make use of the self construction process to achieve particular educational aims.