The notion that students should be encouraged to make curriculum decisions requiring their active participation in the design, implementation, management and assessment of their learning is a controversial issue. This research, through an examination of local and overseas literature on student learning, identified relevant pedagogical principles and explored, via a case study, a wide range and variety of student centred strategies culminating in the development of a practical approach for teachers interested in introducing the notion of student managed learning into their classrooms. In doing so it was essential that the research methodology was able to provide sufficient flexibility and sensitivity to respond to the changing demands encountered in the day-to-day activities of teachers, students and schools. The retrospective account by the researcher, who was also the classroom practitioner, incorporated an 'illuminative evaluation' process, which documented and analysed student- managed learning in the classroom. The research methodology describes actual practice, enabling the reader to 'visualise' what actually happened during the implementation and evaluation of the case study. Although the primary focus for the student interviews was to obtain their impressions of the value of student-managed learning, their comments provided a striking and illuminating critique of the conventional teaching and learning paradigm. This thesis represents a call to action: for educators to re- examine their current views on how people learn. It challenges them to pursue these strategies in order to encourage their students to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to manage their own learning.