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Compare and contrast the types of constructivism
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Based on my letter, I feel constructivism is reflected through my teaching style. In the reading Constructivism--Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom, social constructivism is described as interaction with teachers and peers to come to understanding about a concept. This reflects in my teaching style because I am willing to offer my time and support to help my students understand what they are learning. I also mention in my letter that I want students to work and play together to enjoy their time in afterschool care. However, I feel I need to allow more social constructivism with student interaction to take place in my classroom. It is important to allow students to have discussions and debates about the topics they are learning, because each child has a different grasp on a concept other students may be able to make sense of a lesson if it is explained by another child. I believe it is important to allow a constructive environment because I want my students to interact with one another to see if they are able to find possible solutions to problems. …show more content…
The reading mentions that in order for children to learn through cognitive constructivism they need to work through real life experiences. I need to incorporate real life problems in the classroom to help my students learn through their own experiences. For example, I could let my students interact with one another and pretend to be in a grocery store buying items for their families on a budget. This lesson can help students understand how to handle money and make change, as well as make wise decisions about what to purchase when they have a limited amount of
Alexander (2004) argued there are five principles of a dialogic classroom: collective, reciprocal, supportive, cumulative and purposeful. These principles, Alexander (2004) argues, are what make teaching dialogical. Throughout my teaching experience so far, I have observed and used these five standards during lessons. In reflection, at points they will not have all been present. In an equal capacity, subsequently on a number of occasions these principles have been present
While reading the Windschitl & Hirsch articles, I felt both informed and interested on the different positions on the main question. The main question asks about if schools should have their own educational constructivist approach. The article written by Windschitl agrees having an educational constructivist approach, while Hirsch on the other hand disagrees. Each other others did a wonderful job on elaborating their positions on the point, and provided excellent examples, and great detail. Each of these articles exhibited both similarities and differences regarding the main question.
Furthermore, social constructivism allows students to be presented with the same learning experience while giving them the ability to experience it in a way personal to them. I understand we all have varying life experiences that influences our perception of things in the world around us. I fully intend to help guide students to the knowledge needed to be successful, but I will not influence how they apply their knowledge to life experiences. I strongly feel an educator should not be a dictator in the classroom, but instead only a guide to help assist students in testing the capability of their own learning. A social constructivist class is set up in a manner conducive to such and affords students and teachers the opportunity to nurture such style. I place great value on making sure the environment is fair, safe, and welcoming to all. My management style will allow students to feel secure and comfortable to question learning processes and reflect on the “hows” and “whys” without feeling as if they are questioning authority which can often happen in a teacher centered classroom unfortunately. My student centered
Social Constructivism is the underlying philosophy of this project. According to Creswell (2013), “In social constructivism, individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live and work” (p. 24). This project will take place in my school, and I will be a participant in the training of staff and ongoing professional development and support for the staff, in addition to seeking and recording their feedback and reflections from the implementation.
Explain to her what it is, making sure to talk about it big picture, but also with focus on the teacher’s role as well as the child’s role? A constructivist philosophy is when the students experience their knowledge by making or building through learning. For example, the teacher may give a long lecture in the classroom, but some students will learn and some will recall a little of the information. While, if the students are making something, then they pretty much will get what they learn. Another example is, instead of the teacher telling, she must begin asking. However, Students should be exposed to data,
Thirdly both approach focus on educators to provide encouragement, warmth, and acceptance. They also provide challenges for creative and complex learning and thinking, helping children to extend their ideas and actions through sensitive, informed, well-judged interventions and support. Te Whᾱriki principles points out “children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things” (p. 14).
Empiricists and rationalists have proposed opposing theories of the acquisition of knowledge, which appear unable to coexist. Each theory holds its own strengths but does not demonstrate a strong argument in itself to the questions, “Is knowledge truly possible?” and “How is true knowledge obtained?”. Immanual Kant successfully merged the two philosophies and provided a convincing argument with his theory of empirical relativism, or what some may call constructivism. His theory bridges the gap between rationalism and empiricism and proves that empiricists and rationalists each present a piece of the full puzzle. In order to truly understand Kant’s epistemology, one must first review and understand both empiricism and rationalism on an impartial basis.
A. Behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism are relatively common theories used in the classroom as ways to approach student learning. Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior, such as students answering questions correctly, or being able to follow directions to complete a task as instructed. Characteristics of a classroom that uses behaviorism might be memorization of facts, writing vocabulary words, or a token reward system to inspire the desired behavior and decrease undesired behaviors. Constructivism, as indicated by the root word “construct,” focuses on the construction of new ideas, or expanding on what is already known. Students in a classroom using constructivism as a means for learning might seem more actively engaged in the learning process; they often learn something new through applying what they already know about the content area, and exploring new matter to further their understanding. This type of classroom often uses hands on manipulatives to allow students to actually build, create, or experiment with what they are learning. A cognitivism approach to learning might be explained by the minds capacity to process information – such as how a learner might remember something, retrieve information, or store new concepts. Learning through this method often depends on how the student processes what the teacher is presenting. Classrooms using this approach might incorporate learning strategies that help students categorize and sequence information to assist with processing. Like constructivism, it can be an active style of learning.
...nstructivism. Core to social constructivism practices is the creation of a social environment where students can use language to communicate, collaborate and socially interact with each other to learn. The prevalence of constructionist principals in current education attests to the importance of Vygotskys’ theories and their successful application in the classroom.
Sutinen, A. (2008). Constructivism and education: education as an interpretative transformational process. Studies in Philosophy & Education, 27(1), 1-14. doi:10.1007/s11217-007-9043-5
The concept of constructivism has roots in classical antiquity, going back to Socrates's dialogues with his followers, in which he asked directed questions that led his students to realize for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in the way constructivist educators assess their students' learning and plan new learning experiences. Constructivism Theories assume that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When an individual encounters something new, there is a need to reconcile it with the previous ideas and experience, maybe changing the beliefs, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, an individual is an active creator of knowledge (Concept to Classroom).
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world situations, such as, experiments in science and math real-world problem solving. A constructivist teacher constantly checks up on the student, asking them to reflect what they are learning from this activity. The teacher should be keeping track on how they approached similar situations and help them build on that. The students can actually learning how to learn in a well-planned classroom. Many people look at this learning style as a spiral, the student is constantly learning from each new experience and their ideas become more complex and develop stronger abilities to integrate this information(P. Johnson, 2004). An example of a constructivist classroom would be, the student is in science class and everyone is asking questions, although the teacher knows the answer, instead of just giving it to them, she attempts to get the students to think through their knowledge and try to come up with a logical answer. A problem with this method of learning is that people believe that it is excusing the role of...
Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory (Kearns, 2010) advocates that students play an active participant role in their own learning and I firmly believe that children are not just empty vessels waiting to be filled with just my personal knowledge. Children’s diversity in learning can bring new perceptions to even a well-balanced curriculum; to this end my approach to curriculum planning is flexible and adaptable as children’s needs and abilities are constantly changing (Arthur et al.
...g experience is child-centred. “Constructivist classrooms are structured so that learners are immersed in experiences within which they may engage in meaning-making inquiry, action, imagination, invention, interaction, hypothesizing and personal reflection.” (Gray, A) The constructivist approach is one that more teachers need to adopt in their classroom, it is incredibly beneficial. The approach will not only improve the child’s learning but also the teachers learning of their students.