According to Dorit Kaufman(2004:303) * “ Constructivism is…a paradigm (which) has coincided with a shift in pedagogy away from teacher- centered information transmission models toward knowledge-centred and learner-centered approaches that focus on cognitive and social processes in learning.”
With the shift to multiliteracies, technology has become instrumental to the framing up of a reconstructivist teaching process.
To fully grasp the underlying principles of constructivism is to scrutinise the learning environment in our class. This I posit is applied in all aspects of our learning:
a.the presentation of course readings- with probing questions to think about and reflect on;
b.the teachers- with two adept ‘experts’ in the field (Vygotzy's term to teachers in the scaffolding process);
c.the learning process- discovery approach, collaborative learning, experiential approach, problem –solving, brainstorming, blogging, and the like; and,
d.the teaching process- dialogic approach as clearly explained using a schematic framework (see course outline)
e.the testing and assessment process- with reference to our experience last session ( Week 10- March 24,2010)
Kaufman (2004:305) enumerated a number of its advantages:
“Learners benefit from multiplicity of approaches and learning experiences as they extract salient information in acquiring new knowledge. They also benefit from assistance by teachers who attend to their interpretations and provide relevant guidance and scaffolding to promote meaningful learning. The constructivist experience from both Piagetian and Vygotskian perspectives create opportunities for learners to engage in hands-on, minds-on manipulation of raw data…”
As I see it, the constructivist approach forcefully pushes students to think, to reflect and to construct meanings. It challenges the brain to reach optimal acquisition of the target concepts. It highly promotes discovery learning and evaluation of the tasks and experiences. It defies the traditional way of teaching and learning and testing and assessing… Highly liberating and intellectually challenging indeed!
*Dorit Kaufman (2004) “Constructivist Issues in Language Learning and Teaching”. Annual Review on Applied Linguistics 4:303-319.
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Hey lady, is there any difference between contructivism and reconstructivism? And, is there a difference between contructivism and socialcultural theory?
ReplyDeleteTks in advance!:)
Hello Chiayen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your queries. Constructivism and reconstructivism are two different philosophies. As far as I know, reconstructivism is a by- product of deconstructionism philosophy. It requires application of deconstruction on an entity (e.g. traditional way of teaching) and then building a new one after contextualising and combining all the elements again of an entity. (e. g. different way of teaching) It is the reason why I used the term ‘reconstructivist’ to describe the impact of technology in pedagogy.
I still remember how deconstruction works as a technique in Literary Criticism. It involves close analysis of every detail and creating a new meaning by de-familiarizing oneself of the object/s of analysis. One instance where I applied this method was in analysing and reanalysing the 2 DS for our e-learning 2.
About your second question, constructivism and sociocultural theory overlap to an extent but they are in fact two different theories. Constructivism is a theory that attempts to put together the main tenets of both cognitivism (e.g. Piaget) and socio-culturalist (e.g. Vygotsky) philosophies. Constructivism strongly believes that both the brain and the environment or the so called ‘social’ facilitate the learning process. They work together to create meanings.
To better understand the theory of constructivism, I suggest you read my reference:
Dorit Kaufman (2004) “Constructivist Issues in Language Learning and Teaching”. Annual Review on Applied Linguistics 4:303-319.
Hi Eulalia!
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate your explanation :)
Agree with you about creating opportunities with learners' learning styles and abilities/preferences in mind. It is certainly a rather daunting task but with collaboration amongst educators, I feel this is possible :)
Thank you for your comment, Rachael.
ReplyDeleteWow... Eula.. this entry is really informative, good clarification as well... it is indeed beneficial to all (teachers and students) when teachers tip the students over to intrinsic learning.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Xernieve. I also believe that intrinsic learning has a more lasting and impactful effect.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your sharing Eula! :) Really appreciate it!
ReplyDelete