Discuss social constructivist pedagogical approach and its implications for teaching learning process
Answers
Need of constructivism:
The present article concentrates on providing an alternative pedagogy based on the principles of constructivism theory given by Piaget [5], Vygotsky [6] and other theoreticians including psychologists and sociologists. If we accept constructivist theory, then we have to give up platonic and all subsequent realistic views of epistemology. We have to recognize that there is no such thing as knowledge “out there”, independent of the knower but only knowledge we construct for ourselves as we learn is the true knowledge. If we believe that knowledge consists of learning about the real world “out there”, then the power of organizing and presenting the knowledge is passed on to the teacher who ultimately passes this on to the learner. In the process of disseminating knowledge to learners the teacher may use activities and opportunities to experiment but here the teacher is helping the learner to understand the world but don’t ask the learner to construct his/her own world.
The understanding of the difference between the world “out there” and the students own world helps a teacher to decide the type of pedagogy he will follow to create a constructivist classroom. When the teacher structures situations for his/her students then she is restricting the learners to carry out their own mental actions.
Definitions for constructivism in education are as follows
"It is assumed that learners have to construct their own knowledge individually and collectively. Each learner has a tool kit of concepts and skills with which he or she must construct knowledge to solve problems presented by the environment. The role of the community, other learners and teacher is to provide the setting, pose the challenges, and offer the support that will encourage mathematical construction."
"The doctrine itself holds that 'language users must individually construct the meaning of words, phrases, sentences and texts."
"Constructivists allege that it is we who constitute or construct, on the basis of our theorizing or experience, the allegedly unobservable items postulated in our theories."
"The central principles of this approach are that learners can only make sense of new situations in terms of their existing understanding. Learning involves an active process in which learners construct meaning by linking new ideas with their existing knowledge" .
Social Constructivism:
The most important aspect on which constructivism focuses is knowledge construction. Knowledge construction is viewed differently by different philosophers and psychologists. Jean Piaget’s view is constructivist, because he firmly believed that knowledge acquisition is a process of continuous self-construction. Children acquire knowledge through their actions and passes through stages of assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium in the process of knowledge construction. The father of social constructivism, Vygotsky [6] views the origin of knowledge construction as being the social intersection of people, interactions that involve sharing, comparing and debating among learners and mentors.
Through a highly interactive process, the social milieu of learning is accorded center stage and learners both refine their own meanings and help others find meaning. In this way knowledge is mutually built. This view is a direct reflection of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning, which accentuates the supportive guidance of mentors as they enable the apprentice learner to achieve successively more complex skill, understanding, and ultimately independent competence .
Constructivist Learning Strategies:
Provide experience with the knowledge construction process
Experience in and appreciation for multiple perspectives
Provide social and emotional learning
Use multiple modes of representation:
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