CONSTRUCTIVISM
CONSTRUCTIVISM: DEFINITION
Constructivism is based on the idea that people actively construct or make their own knowledge, and that reality is determined by your experiences as a learner.
Learners use their previous knowledge as a foundation and build on it with new things that they learn.
So everyone's individual experiences make their learning unique to them.
THE SEVEN PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
Philosophy | Why Teach | What to Teach | How to Teach |
|---|---|---|---|
Essentialism | Teachers teach for learners to acquire basic knowledge, skills and values. | The emphasis is on the academic content for students to learn the basic skills and fundamental r’s – reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic and right conduct. The teachers and administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn. | Traditional, structured learning. |
Progressivism | Progressivist teachers teach to develop learners into becoming enlightened and intelligent citizens of a democratic society. | The progressivists are identified with need-based and relevant curriculum. The curriculum should respond to students’ needs and that relates to students’ personal lives and experiences. | Learner-centered, experiential. |
Perennialism | To develop the students’ rational and moral powers. | The perennialist curriculum is a universal one on that all human beings possess the same essential nature. It is not a specialist curriculum but rather a general one. | Focused on universal, unchanging knowledge. |
Existentialism | To help students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions. To help students to define their own essence by exposing them to various paths they take in life. | In an existentialist curriculum, students are given a wide variety way of options from which to choose. Provide students with vicarious experiences that will help unleash their own creativity and self-expression. | Existentialist methods focus on the individual. They help students know themselves and their place in society. |
Behaviorism | Behaviorist schools are concerned with the modification and shaping of students’ behavior by providing for a favorable environment. Behaviorist teachers teach students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the environment. | Behaviorist teachers ought to arrange environmental conditions so that students can make the responses to stimuli. Teachers ought to make the stimuli clear and interesting to capture and hold the learners’ attention. They ought to provide appropriate incentives to reinforce positive responses and weaken eliminate the negative ones. | Focused on reinforcement and stimuli. |
Linguistic Philosophy | To develop the communication skills of the learner. To develop in the learner the skill to send messages clearly and receive messages correctly. | Learner should be taught to communicate clearly – how to send clear, concise messages and how to receive and correctly understand messages sent. Communication takes place in three (3) ways – verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal. | Experiential is the most effective way to teach language and communication. The teacher facilitates dialogue among learners and between his/her students. |
Constructivism | To develop intrinsically motivated and independent learners adequately equipped with learning skills for them to construct knowledge and make meaning of them. | The students are taught how to learn. They are taught learning processes and skills such as searching, critiquing and evaluating information. | The teachers provide students with data or experiences that allow them to hypothesize, predict, manipulate objects, pose questions, research, investigate, imagine and invent. |
PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
Knowledge is constructed.
Knowledge is built upon other knowledge.
Students take pieces and put them together in their own unique way.
The student’s previous knowledge, experiences, beliefs, and insights are all important foundations for their continued learning.
People learn to learn, as they learn.
Learning involves constructing meaning and systems of meaning.
For example, if a student is learning the chronology of dates for a series of historical events, at the same time they are learning the meaning of chronology.
If a student is writing a paper about history, they are also learning principles of grammar and writing as well.
Learning is an active process.
Learning involves sensory input to construct meaning.
The learner needs to do something in order to learn.
Learners need to engage in discussions, reading, activities, etc.
Learning is a social activity.
Learning is directly associated to our connection with other people.
Teachers, family, peers, acquaintances impact learning.
Peer involvement is key in learning.
Progressive education recognizes that social interaction is key to learning.
Learning is contextual.
Students don’t learn isolated facts and theories separate from the rest of their lives.
We learn in ways connected to what we already know and believe.
Knowledge is personal.
Based on individual experiences and beliefs.
Each person will have their own prior knowledge and experiences.
Learning differs for everyone.
Learning exists in the mind.
Hands-on experiences are necessary but not enough.
Engaging the mind is key to successful learning.
Mental experiences are needed for retaining knowledge.
Motivation is key to learning.
Students are unable to learn if they are unmotivated.
Educators need to engage and motivate learners to activate their minds.
Without motivation, learners cannot connect past experience with new learning.
TYPES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
1. Cognitive Constructivism
Focuses on the idea that learning should be related to the learner’s stage of cognitive development.
Helps students learn new information by connecting it to things they already know.
Enables modification of existing intelligence to accommodate new information.
Origin: Jean Piaget and his research on cognitive development in children.
2. Social Constructivism
Focuses on the collaborative nature of learning.
Knowledge develops from how people interact with each other, their culture, and society at large.
Students rely on others to help create their building blocks.
Learning from others helps them construct their own knowledge and reality.
Origin: Lev Vygotsky, closely connected to cognitive constructivism with the added element of societal and peer influence.
3. Radical Constructivism
Very different from cognitive and social constructivism.
Focuses on the idea that learners and the knowledge they construct tell us nothing real, only help us function in our environment.
The overall idea is that knowledge is invented, not discovered.
The things we bring to the table make it impossible for us to have truth, only interpretations of knowledge.
Developed by Ernst von Glasersfeld in 1974.
✅ Summary: Constructivism in Learning
Learners construct their own knowledge based on experiences and prior understanding.
Knowledge is personal, social, contextual, and requires active participation.
Motivation and engagement are crucial.
Constructivism aligns with progressive, learner-centered education.
Major contributors: Jean Piaget (cognitive), Lev Vygotsky (social), Ernst von Glasersfeld (radical).