4. Social constructivism

Constructivist learning theory has been formed from cognitive theories of learning by many psychologists and education researchers. Constructivism states that knowledge is constructed from experiences and prior knowledge juxtaposed to the view that knowledge was instructed then remembered to recall at any time. (Yilmaz, 2008)

One of those psychologists was Jean Piaget. Piaget’s theory of constructivist learning states that to learn a student has to go through a phase of “disequilibrium” or unsettlement whilst new knowledge is either assimilated into a mental schema or the schema is restructured to accommodate the information. (Yilmaz, 2008)

If Piaget’s learning theory lead to constructivism then I believe the work of Lev Vygotsky, another psychologist studying children’s behaviour, lead to social constructivism. Vygotsky’s theory of learning is that learning occurs twice, once in a social environment with peers and more knowledgeable others (MKOs) such as teachers or adults then again when recalling that knowledge through internal speech. (Yilmaz, 2008)

Social constructivist pedagogy allows the students to talk with each other about the task at hand and help each other with their problems. This allows the teacher more time to observe the class and help and groups of students who may be struggling. (Rowe, 2006) 

Rowe (2006) suggests that constructivist pedagogy has its limitations in the classroom and should not be the sole learning theory present in the classroom. Some of the limitations he states are in the base foundation knowledge such as learning the alphabet and basic mathematical principals. I agree that this basic knowledge is very difficult to learn in constructivist pedagogy as it does need to be remembered and recalled on a daily basis. 

Rowe (2006) also suggests that constructivist pedagogy puts some groups of students at a disadvantage. He states that children from disadvantaged backgrounds who do not have rich vocabulary and social skills upon which to base new knowledge a social constructivist classroom will multiple their disadvantage (Rowe, 2006). However I disagree as social constructivist views encourages student based learning which leaves the teacher with more time to spend with students who require additional instruction and attention, therefore give disadvantaged students more student - teacher one on one time. 

Finally I think a balance of teacher based learning (instruction) and student based learning (constructivist) learning theories in the classroom would benefit more learning styles and backgrounds. This would lead to better outcomes as an individual and a class.

References

Rowe, K. (2006). Effective teaching practices for students with and without learning difficulties: Constructivism as a legitimate theory of learning AND of teaching. Australian Council of Educational Research, 7(1), 1-24. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/learning_processes/10

Yilmaz, K. (2008). Constructivism: Its Theoretical Underpinnings, Variations, and Implications for Classroom Instruction. educational HORIZONS, 161-172. Retrieved from http://library.uq.edu.au/search~S7?/rEDUC1049/reduc1049/1,1,1,B/frameset~3205795&FF=reduc1049&1,1,

Bannan, V. (2013, May 25). Constructivism, [Concept Map]. Retrieved from http://popplet.com/app/index.php#/1046022

Lev Vygotsky [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.education.manchester.ac.uk/research/readinggroups/vygotskyreadinggroup/

Constructivism art [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tomchukfilms.com/articles/art_constructivism.php

Jean Piaget [Image] (2010). Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/piaget.html