CONSTRUCTIVISM

3. Constructivism

Constructivism has its roots in the work of Lev Vygotsky, a Russian educator and psychologist. Vygotsky's constructivist theory, often called social constructivism, assumes that society has a great influence on the cognitive development of the child. He placed a great deal of emphasis on the social context of learning in which both teachers and older or more experienced children play very important roles. This affords much room for an active, involved teacher. Similar to Piaget's cognitive constructivist theory is the underlining notion that knowledge and skills cannot be given to a child that they will immediately understand. Instead, skills and knowledge are "constructed" through the child's experiences. 

The culture, or the environment in which the child develops, gives the child the cognitive tools necessary for development in that environment. These tools play an important role in what the child learns and how fast. The adults in the child's life provide the tools to the child and the tools provide the child include cultural history, social context, and language. Today, technology plays an important role as both a tool and a provider of tools for the child in a learning environment.

An important assumption with this theory is adults, or other more advanced children, help younger, less knowledgeable students master concepts and ideas that they cannot understand on their own. Although this seems obvious to educators today, it is still an under-utilized tool and was ground breaking in the early 20th Century. 

Vygotsky's best-known concept is that of the zone of proximal development or ZPD. This concept stresses that problem solving and thinking skills are placed in three categories:

1. Those that can be performed independently by the child, 

2. Those that are simply beyond the cognitive skills of the child, 

3. Those that can be performed with assistance, or are within the zone of proximal development (ZPD).

A child who uses those skills that are in the ZPD, with the help of others with more knowledge will quickly develop those skills to the level of being used independently.  " What the child is able to do in collaboration today he will be able to do independently tomorrow." 

Scaffolding and reciprocal teaching are successful ways in which to access the child's ZPD. Scaffolding requires the teacher to provide students the opportunity to extend their current skills and knowledge. Reciprocal teaching requires the creation of a dialogue between student and teacher.

Although Vygotsky's theories are similar to those of Piaget, Piaget can be interpreted as allowing the student to learn in a "hands-off" environment, where the teacher allows the child to develop at an independent or "natural" pace. The teacher, in Vygotsky's model, is there to facilitate and guide the student at all times and must be active in the child's learning. 

Traditionally, schools do not provide for students to play a role in their learning. In Vygotsky's theory, the roles of the student and teacher are very non-traditional. The classroom should be cluttered and filled with learning opportunities, challenging students to learn just above their developmental ability. This is similar to the Bandura's social cognitive theory in that there must be interaction for learning to occur.

A classroom based on social constructivist theory would be one in which the teacher recognized that learning and development is a social, collaborative activity and would therefore develop classroom activities to support this. The teacher would also use the ZPD to guide the development of lesson plans and would ensure that learning would occur in a meaningful context and not be separated from learning and knowledge children develop in the "real world." Instruction in the social constructivist classroom would also relate the child's out-of-school experience with the classroom experience. 

The teacher in this classroom would be an active participant in the child's learning and discovery and would act as a facilitator for the development of new skills. The classroom would utilize cooperative learning, group activities and advice from the teacher as students approached real world problems and challenges. The curriculum would evolve from what the child needed to learn and desired to learn to succeed in that particular social context. 

The teacher must engage students' interest, simplify tasks so they are manageable, and motivate students to pursue the instructional goal. Students need to go beyond answering questions and engage in discussion, and the teacher must facilitate and motivate this discussion.