| Climate: | Formal, authority-oriented, competitive, judgemental | Informal, mututally respectful, consensual, collaborative, supportive |
| Planning: | Primarily by teacher/curriculum developer | By participative decision-making |
| Diagnosis of needs: | Primarily by teacher/curriculum developer | By mutual assessment |
| Setting goals: | Primarily by teacher/curriculum developer | By mutual negotiation |
| Designing a learning plan: | Content units, course syllabus, logically sequenced | Learning projects, learning contracts, sequenced in terms of readiness |
| Learning activities: | Information transmission techniques, assigned readings/exercises | Inquiry projects, independent study, experiential techniques (e.g. reflective practice) |
| Evaluation: | Primarily by teacher/examiner | By mutual assessment of self-collected evidence |