discuss the way these two concepts can co-exist and support each other. Meanwhile, let me
go back to the discussion about the individual and cultural dimensions of autonomy and self-
direction.
4.3.4 The individual dimension of self-direction
In the last section, I dealt with autonomy as a universal feature of human beings and
I concluded that autonomy is a natural inborn capacity of human beings to leam. This
discussion allowed me to establish the difference between autonomy and self-direction,
defining the latter as the intentional acquisition of knowledge and skills. Let me analyse now
self-direction from an individual perspective. In other words, in what terms is it authentic for
a learner to Ieam within a self-directed learning framework? To answer this question it is
necessary to take into account the definition of self-direction I have been working on.
According to it, self-direction consists of certain ability and certain attitude. Ability and
attitude are deeply interrelated. Actually both are equally responsible for successful learning
outcomes (Littlewood; 1997,82). As Brockett and Hiemstra state,
within the context of learning, it is the ability and/or willingness of
individuals to take control of their own learning that determines their
potential for self-direction. (1991,26)
In regard to ability, the learner has to analyse herself and decide if her abilities, in
terms of learning styles and strategies, match those required in a self-directed framework.
Here, the role of learning to Ieam schemes becomes very relevant in terms of helping the
learner to identify and analyse her learning. Actually, taking into consideration individual
factors has been one of the most acknowledged advantages of self-directed learning
frameworks. However, there remain several questions without answer. For instance, the
definition of learning styles refers to innate ways of processing and storing information.
Then, to what extent is it authentic to "train" people with different learning styles for self-
directed learning? For example, is it valid to train field dependent learners to be more
analytic and field independent learners to be more social sensitive? Or maybe I should put it
the other way around: Is it valid for SAC counsellors to close the self-direction doors to
those people who are field-dependent learners? The debatable teachability of learning
strategies also raises a problem of authenticity: To whom are learning strategies teachable?
In what conditions? Which strategies? For how long? etc, etc, etc. Unfortunately, research