Leslie Owen Wilson, Ed.D. Posted 10/2021
Constructivism – How students actively construct knowledge.
In a nutshell
Constructivism is not a specific pedagogy (the art or profession of teaching) by itself. Rather it is a philosophy and theoretical orientation for examining how learning takes place.
Simply put, “constructivism” is grounded in the belief that learners actively construct knowledge as they interact with materials, one another, the teacher, and with learning environments. “Learners do not passively receive information but instead actively construct knowledge as they strive to make sense of their worlds.” Cobb (1996)
Experts in constructivist theory are quick to point out that there is no such thing as constructivist teaching. Instead, there are teaching techniques that are based, or can be based, on constructivist theory. This theory relies heavily on the work of Jean Piaget. There is sometimes the mistaken perception that Piaget was an educator. This is not true. Piaget was a genetic or cognitive epistemologist – a person who studies how humans learn and construct knowledge. While he developed a conceptual framework for ages and stages of cognitive growth, Piaget also observed how students develop organizing schema based on innate abilities, previous experiences, and collective or accumulate knowledge.
The modern constructivist (or Neo-Piagetian) adaptation of Piaget’s ideas implies the general organizing belief that learners actively and experientially construct their own knowledge. Like Piaget, teachers espousing this theory hold the beliefs that students are active agents in their own development, and thus they are primarily concerned with how children/students come to understand their world, and surrounding learning environments.
Constructivist educators think:
- that creative growth refers to concept building and problem solving techniques
- these abilities are dependent on each child’s/student’s specific level of intellectual development.
- of children/students as doers who construct and build understanding of their own worlds.
- that children/students think and process information differently from mature adults, but that they eventually come to appreciate and understand the viewpoints and perspectives of others. (Papalia and Olds, 1990)
At all educational levels teacher-student interactions should include:
- Creating opportunities for discussing and communicating thoughts and feelings.
- Adapting to different styles – i.e. cognitive, learning, and personality styles.
- Creating and providing respectful, comfortable, accepting and supportive learning environments.
- Facilitating and supporting students’ investigations and active experimentation with tasks, materials and instructional support.
- Facilitating the nurturance and development of self-control.
(Bredekamp, 1987)
How constructivist teachers see children:
Constructivists do not see a children’s’/students’ intellectual and social development as a process of genetically predisposed unfolding, but rather as an evolving process as awareness and skills grown from the children’s/students’ own activities, explorations, experiences, and interactions with others and their environments.
These educators are more concerned with how children/students figure out who they are and how they construct “meaning” from the world around them. Constructivist educators assume that by improving learners’ interactions with learning and social environments, that they will ultimately reach higher levels of achievement and understanding than current or previous generations. There is also the belief that learning, behavior, and development are influenced by both internal maturation and both external and environmental influences. These influences are believed to be generally different for individual children/students as each one will interact differently with people, surroundings, and learning environments.
Leslie’s note: While all theories of how humans actively construct knowledge and learn contain seeds of truth, personally constructivism is one of my favorites and for me makes a great deal of sense. In my mind really effective teachers, and parents for that matter, are watchers and opportunists. They know about the stages in child and young adult development, and wait for those signals of readiness before engaging young minds in tasks or offering challenges or opportunities to explore and learn. They look for learner frustration, and if it occurs they gladly change the nature of the challenge. They create learning scaffolds by simplifying the task; dividing it into smaller pieces; offering hints or partial suggestions; or coming at the problem from a different angle or perspective. Children should be challenged, not frustrated! While making mistakes teaches valuable lessons, good teachers and parents understand this as a component of growth, one that has to be followed by debriefing and examining mistakes in a safe atmosphere one without judgement, be those cognitive, physical, or social/emotional challenges. Constructivism offers both an adaptive educational framework that can be personalized somewhat by individual teachers, and a way to actively understand how growing minds adapt, learn and grow.
References:
Bredekamp, S., (Ed.). (1987). Guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice for young children ages birth through age eight. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Brooks, M. and J. (1993) In Search of Understanding: the Case for Constructivist Classrooms. ASCD.
Cobb, Paul (1996) Constructivist, emergent, and sociocultural perspectives in the context of developmental research. Educational Psychologist. V. 31,N. 3&4V. 175-190 http://www.answers.com/topic/constructivism-learning-theory
Papalia, D. E. and Olds, S. W. (1990) A Child’s World: Infancy through Adolescence, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Piaget, Jean. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence. Routledge.
Wood, D. (1998) How Children Think and Learn. 2nd ed.. Blackwell Publishers Ltd
Links:
Western Governors University – An excellent overview of constructivism and how it works
SimplyPsychology – From a psychological perspective and an explanation of constructivism
The background from Wikipedia
__________________________________________________________________
Back to Models Home Page Back to Essential Teaching Index