Social Constructivism Notes

What is Social Constructivism?

  • Social Constructivism is a theory that emphasizes the importance of social interaction and collaboration in the learning process.
  • It builds upon Jean Piaget's constructivism, which focuses on how individuals construct meaning and understanding.
  • Lev Vygotsky further developed Piaget's ideas into Social Constructivism.
  • Social Constructivism deals with how group interactions influence learning.
  • Social constructivism maintains that human development is socially situated and that knowledge is constructed through interaction with others.
  • It is a sociological theory of knowledge that applies general philosophical constructivism to the social realm.
  • In the classroom, students often learn more effectively from their peers than from the teacher.
  • PSI-PMI curricula are designed with high interactivity, where most instruction occurs through shared learning activities in pairs or small groups.

Key Concepts

  • Constructivism: A theory of learning that describes how individuals construct meaning and understanding.
    • Originated by Jean Piaget.
    • Explains how humans learn.
    • Involves:
      • Assimilation: Taking in new information that doesn't change existing understanding.
      • Accommodation: Changing existing mental structures to incorporate new information.
  • Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): The "sweet spot" for learning.
    • Tasks are slightly beyond what students can do alone but achievable with assistance.
    • Avoids frustration by not being too difficult.
    • In social constructivist classrooms, peers provide this assistance.
  • Social Constructivism vs. Group Work:
    • Social constructivism is driven by the natural desire to collaborate with peers.
    • Standard group work is directed to produce a specific outcome.

Goals of Social Constructivism

  • Students construct knowledge and understanding together, which would take longer alone.
  • Students solve increasingly complex problems that would be too challenging in isolation.
  • Students learn within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
  • Students achieve higher levels of rigor and mastery.

Roles of Teacher and Students

Teacher's Role

  • Providing problems to solve.
  • Facilitating problem-solving by setting group expectations.
  • Being part of the social group by circulating the classroom.
  • Encouraging students to work together.
  • Maintaining strong classroom management.

Students' Role

  • Working in groups on formative assessment questions, classwork, and labs.
  • Building on prior knowledge and constructing meaningful knowledge together.
  • Focusing on the problem-solving process.
  • Peer teaching.

Creating a Social Constructivist Classroom

  • Social constructivist classrooms build on our natural tendencies to discuss what we've learned with others to make sense of it.
  • Human beings are social by nature, teaching one another from generation to generation.

Key Steps

  1. Classroom Arrangement:
    • Arrange furniture to encourage collaboration.
    • Use groups of desks or tables to allow students to see and speak to peers easily.
  2. Establish Culture of Respect and Participation:
    • The primary classroom rule should be showing respect for oneself, peers, and the teacher.
    • Discuss the meaning and benefits of respect.
    • Discuss the importance of participation, explaining how active involvement affects instructional choices and learning for everyone.
  3. Create Tasks that appropriately challenge students
    • Provide scaffolded classwork that keeps students engaged and in their ZPD.
    • This encourages collaboration while avoiding frustration and boredom.
    • Allow advanced students to teach themselves the next section and attempt subsequent problems.
  4. Seat Students in Heterogeneous Groups:
    • Vary student groupings to include diverse strengths and weaknesses within each group.
    • Stronger students deepen their learning by explaining concepts to peers.
    • Struggling learners receive peer tutoring to quickly grasp understanding.
    • Each student will have a chance to be the strongest in the team as you move through different topics.
  5. Rotate Group Members:
    • Rotate group members periodically (quarterly, monthly, daily, or weekly).
    • SMART notebook: Use the Random Group Picker located in the SMART gallery.
  6. Reflect Questions:
    • Encourage "Ask 3, then me".
    • If an individual student asks a question, turn the question to their group.
    • If a whole group asks a question, have them ask it out loud to the whole class.
  7. Keep Everyone Involved in the Learning.:
    • Provide encouragement for students to work together.
    • Use chain reaction tutoring (you taught a portion of the students through direct instruction, let them teach their peers).
    • Allow students from one group to move to another group to provide help or seek help.

Classroom Environment

  • Be comfortable with noise, as it is a normal part of constructive learning.
  • Continually circulate among student groups to ensure that everyone is on task.