ED 307 Constructivism

Constructivism believes:

• Students construct their own knowledge by combining their prior knowledge with new information.  
• Teachers are facilitators of learning.
• Assessments should demonstrate a knowledge of process or skill.
• Curriculum is student-driven.  

I have no problem with some of the strategies/pedagogies or the (fill in the blank)-based learnings.  I have thought of several projects that I would genuinely wish to do.  For example, I would love to have students organize, develop, manage, procure, construct, and then donate something they made for a community need i.e. a dog house for an animal shelter.  I would love to have students learn to crochet or quilt as a project for community-based learning.  However, I think that (fill in the blank)-based learning (which all fall under constructivism) do not stand alone as an education.

I am not a constructivist.  I am a traditionalist, essentialist, even a classicist.  I would rather take a "both" stance.  Skills and process are all well and good.  If a student does not have a solid content base, writing as a process or skill is still difficult.  Think of the saying "Write what you know!"  Combine content with process and skill in this ratio, 2(content):1(skills):1(process), I think you have really got something!  Project-based learning will be more effective with a solid framework (content) to base it off of.  I don't think that an entire curriculum should be based on a single (fill in the blank)-based learning.  How many lesson plans does it take to teach the research process or scientific experiment process?  It does not take whole grades.  Yet once the process is learned, what do the students do with the process. Repeat it in different assignments.  This is an example of traditional and constructivist models working together.  

There are two last point I would make.  Authority is a term that appears to be a misnomer in the constructivist and traditional models.  It is said that the teacher in the traditional model is the authority over, of, on content.  I don't understand the mislabeling.  I do know more than a kindergartener or a 6th grader.  It is a matter of volume.  Authority comes from the need to lead or manage.  Is it a matter of the teacher saying what information is right?  Or is it a matter of good information is factual?  As a future teacher, I want my students to have a solid content base, so that they can develop their own opinions.  I could take up the first part of the school year having a more traditional class.  I have no problem incorporating constructivist strategies.  The class could transition to a more constructivist model for the second half of the school year.  As with all teaching, it takes a lot of work up front!