Theoretical Perspectives in Education Essay

Taskin (2012) undertook an exploratory study to analyse the influence of the new constructivism-based curriculum on primary school students in Turkey. No research question was provided, but the researcher aimed to investigate how students define and view learning and the subsequent strategies teachers can use to assist learning. 55 students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in middle and upper primary schools in Turkey participated in the study. The researcher aimed to gather a deep insight into the students’ experiences and views of learning. Thus, as the study was exploratory, the researcher

Constructivism takes a different approach to developing instruction than the traditional approach taken by objectivism. Objectivist instruction communicates knowledge by breaking it into component parts and then systematically presenting the components to learners. Objectivism begins by deciding what the student needs to know and then constructing a task analysis of that knowledge. After analyzing the existing abilities of the learners, the instructional designer develops a strategy to communicate the required information to the learners. Assessments are used to determine if the communication process was successful. The process is usually conducted in an artificial setting, such as a classroom, to minimize distractions. By contrast, constructivist instruction seeks to provide learners with their own means of constructing their own interpretation of a problem. Constructivism begins by selecting a task relevant to the learner’s lived experience. The instructional strategy provides tools for inquiring into the problem and various means for collecting information about the problem in order to understand or construct solutions to the problem. The task is usually accomplished better by working in a group than by working alone. The instructor helps the learner see multiple perspectives. No separate test is required since constructivism believes successful completion of the task indicates successful learning. The emphasis is on showing

Constructivism is basically about how people learn based on observation and through scientific studies. Through their own experiences and reflecting upon them people can gain understanding and knowledge and learn from past experiences. When a person encounters something new they are likely to compare it to wheat they already know, the new experience may alter what the person already believes or they may disregard the new situation and think the new information is irrelevant. People are active creators of knowledge and it is a like a building process, a person will use what they already know about a new thing, gather new knowledge based on the new situation and will add (build)the new knowledge onto what they already know.

As centuries changes, so too does the learning styles of students’ changes. Hence different learning theories such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism have been used to improve learning, performance and class involvement of student. Each of theories has distinctive features based on their individual perspectives of the learning process. In this essay, I will mainly discuss 3 things: 1) the main tenet of behaviorism and constructivism, 2) a comparison between cognitive and constructivism and 3) the implications that constructivism has for the classroom teacher with the central task of teaching.

Constructivism was derived from the idea that a common instructional format and the strategies to teach that format are ineffective because learning is individualistic and students need to construct knowledge with goals and minimal information (Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006). Constructivism’s roots came from Socrates’ dialogues, where he asked his students direct questions. The foundation of constructivist education was shaped by Piaget and Dewey’s Progressive Education, and Vygotsky’s theories.

Constructivism is connected to the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget believed that cognitive development occurred in four stages that have distinct developmental characteristics.  He theorised that all information is organised into ‘schemas’, and this refers to the manner in which a child organisesand stores information and knowledge received. As new information is received, it is either incorporated into existing schemas (assimilation) or new schemas (accommodation) are created (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).  Vygotsky’s theories compliment those of Piaget and place a greater importance on social interaction as he considered cognitive development predominately was achievedthrough social interaction.  Vygotsky believed that learning could be accelerated with the assistance of a more advanced peer or teacher.  This concept is referred to as the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and works in conjunction with the theory of ‘scaffolding’, where a teacher provides support to student and as proficiency increases the scaffolding is decreased (Marsh, 2008). Evidence of scaffolding is seen throughout the Maths video as Ms Poole provides an outline of the lesson and the goals to allow students to establish a focus.

Constructivism, which is a learning theory and pedagogy, is based on the understanding of cognition and that learning does not transpire from merely being given information that is recorded, but by the way the individual learner construes this information (Resnick, 1989).

Glasersfeld (1995) claims that the Knowledge needs to be absorbed by ourselves, rather than passively accepted. We need to construct the knowledge and let it becomes a part of ourselves. According to this, students play an important role in learning process, the teacher need to guide students rather than assign the knowledge. Knowledge should be constructed rather than only depend on teachers and textbook, and students need initiative to accept the knowledge rather than force to learn. We also need to achieve the purpose of learning through practice, learn the experience from the changing things and build our own knowledge system (Dewey, 1998). Montessori (1997) also states that that when we solve the problem, we should rely on ourselves, teachers are only the role for regulation. To sum up, constructivism argues that in the process of teaching students role are more important than teachers. Teachers just need to give advice to their students and to inspire and guide them.

Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world

students in ‘discovery mode’. This is unlikely to be wholly satisfactory in Higher Education, either for teachers or learners, and an element of instructivism is to be expected. Nevertheless, Fox acknowledges that “the greatest insight of constructivism is perhaps the realisation of the difference made by a learner’s existing knowledge and values to what is learned next, both in facilitating and inhibiting it (ibid. 33).

Constructivism is one of the three learning theories developed to help explain the way children learn in the classroom. The scientist Jean Piaget and psychologist Lev Vygotsky were the theorists who developed constructivism. (Pass, 2004) Teachers today use these ideas, some use them at different times in their classrooms and others have used them combined into the same lesson. Constructivism can help students understand and retain the information they learn in the classroom. Piaget made detailed studies of cognition in children, these tests revealed that children have different cognitive abilities. According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure on where all learning and knowledge is based. Vygotsky believes that young children are actively involved in their own learning and the development of new understandings/schema. Vygotsky interpretation of interaction with peers is a good way to increase strategies and developing skills. Vygotsky came up with the idea of the zone of proximal development. He suggests that teachers who use cooperative learning exercises with students who struggle in school, the students tend to do better with the zone of proximal development. Teachers assist students by constructing the way of learning in the classroom, a learning that will support them throughout school and in the student’s futures.

Constructivism is a concept that is supported by all the major educational philosophers. Learners are actively in

This means each individual learner can construct their own knowledge at their own rate, and the learning is independent of each person. Constructivism according to the authors has obvious benefits in an educational environment because it centers on authentic experiences in the real world while allowing a learner to build their own knowledge of that experience. That means a science and math classroom can utilize a variety of pedagogical techniques while also harnessing individual student autonomy, cognitive ability, and learning preferences to develop the critical thinking skills required for success in STEM. Thus, student learning is particularly influenced through learning styles, such as the 4MAT model and Theory of Multiple Intelligences, as well as student motivation that trigger transformation in the learning process.

Constructivism encourages the learner to be active regarding how they learn, take information and concluding it to their understanding instead of being a passive learner (Piaget, 2016).

An excellent study of applying constructivist theory by Banet and Ayuso (2003) have shown that a more in-depth study of the students’ interest and an ongoing analysis of the classroom setting is useful to increase the students ‘understanding and results. They explored classroom atmosphere and implemented teaching approaches that allow students’ feedback and deepen their knowledge. This study also mentioned that the traditional constructs of the students’ knowledge, cognitive abilities, and the stages of cognitive development were unable to solve the problems. As compared to traditional learning, students will acquire a more comprehensive knowledge of the subject.