Constructivism, Teaching and Learning
You can’t be in the education business too long without having a thought or two about something called constructivism. There’s not a lot of agreement about what the term means, though. Catherine Johnson over at Kitchen Table Math offers some definitions:
definition
constructivist classroom: A classroom in which the teacher uses pedagogical methods that are based on the constructivist theory of learning. The constructivist theory holds that the student is the center of learning, and the teacher should act as a facilitator of the student’s learning, not as an instructor. The constructivist classroom takes many forms, but at heart it is based on the belief that the student is the one who does the learning and therefore must take responsibility for his or her own learning.
EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon
by Diane Ravitch
p. 58constructivism
Constructivist theory posits that children build new information onto preexisting notions and modify their understanding in light of new data. In the process, their ideas increase in complexity and power. Constructivist theorists dismiss the idea that students learn by absorbing information through lectures or repeated rote practice.
Education Week Guide to K-12 Terminology
p. 23
Johnson recommends Lemov’s Taxonomy as a better idea of how kids should be taught. From Lemov:
There’s a consistent progression to the lessons of the champion teachers who informed this book. It’s best described as “I/We/You.” (As far as I know, Doug McCurry, founder of Amistad Academy Charter School, coined this phrase. Others use the terms direct instruction, guided practice, and independent practi to describe what McCurry means.) This name refers to a lesson in which responsibility for knowing and being able to do is gradually released from teacher to student. It means beginning with “I” by delivering key information or modeling the process you want your students to learn as directly as possible, then walking your students through examples or applications. In the “We” step, you first ask for help from students at key moments and then gradually allow them to complete examples with less and less assistance on more and more of the task. Finally, in the “You” step, you provide students the opportunity to practice doing the work on their own, giving them multiple opportunities to practice.
Some folks take the literal view of constructivism and equate it with hands-on learning. Building things. Others say that you can “build new information onto preexisting notions and modify their understanding in light of new data” by reading a book. Or this blog post.
Constructivism is dogma in most colleges of education– a sort of secular religion. Here’s my favorite constructivism quote. It’s from an article called “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism” by D.C. Phillips:
Across the broad fields of educational theory and research, constructivism has become something akin to a secular religion. … constructivism, which is, whatever else it may be, a “powerful folktale” about the origins of human knowledge. As in all living religions, constructivism has many sects – each of which harbours some distrust of its rivals. This descent into sectarianism, and the accompanying growth in distrust of nonbelievers, is probably the fate of all large-scale movements inspired by interesting ideas; and it is the ideological or ugly side of the present scene, which is reflected in my article’s title.
