Examples Of Constructivism In Early Childhood Classroom

On Thursday September 28, 2016 I was given the opportunity to observe Ms. A preschool class at kiddie academy in Windham, New Hampshire for two hours from 9 to 11am. the age level is 2 years old and the oldest one had just turned 3. There was a total of 10 children in the class and 2 teachers in the classroom. This center serves all types of families. There were no children with documented special needs in the classroom. Moreover, the leader teacher of the classroom has an associate in early childhood education, 20 years of experience and 5 years working at this center, the other teacher has a certificate in early childhood education 16 years of experience and 11 years working at this center.

Constructivist theory- this theory considers how children learn from experience in life, it believes that children will ‘construct’ their ideas about the world by what they experience in life. I have seen this put into practice by going on two trips, one with year twos to the remembrance memorials to see for themselves how people remember and appreciate the people who fought in the war and secondly one with year 1’s to a museum to look at toys children used to have in the Victorian days. This is an example of constructivist theory because the children are learning by experiencing it themselves by going on the trip.

Constructivism is reflecting on the experiences we have had in order to create our own understanding of the environment me live in. For instance, lets say I had and old sewing machine that I used all the time but now broke. I visit a sewing machine shop in order to buy a new one. The only machines available are newer models of the machine I owned, with different buttons and features. My previous experience with my machine will guide me into using the new machine. By simply learning a few extra steps, I would now be able to use the new model thanks to by previous experience, this is considered constructivism.

The constructivist pedagogy is when people learn through having different experiences and then using

Mr. Hundert is taken aback when Sedgewick Bell enters his classroom at St. Benedict’s Academy but he does not let it sway his teaching methods in any way. Mr. Hundert’s teaching style incorporate constructivism, self-regulation, situated learning, and problem representation. All of these techniques and teaching styles make Mr. Hundert a good teacher. According to Snowman in chapter 10 of “ED Psych”, constructivism is the view that meaningful learning is not just transferring objective knowledge from one person to another and that it is the view that meaningful learning is active creation of knowledge structures.

Coming to constructivism, it describes learning process as a process which involves learners’ constructing knowledge from their own experiences. According to this theory, new concepts and ideas are actively constructed by learner, based on their past and present experiences or knowledge.

In order to design lessons with measurable results, teachers must shift their way of thinking from content- focused based design to a result-focused approach. Using backwards design is a very useful method for planning meaningful lessons. The idea behind backwards design is to teach and plan towards the ‘end goal’ or learning point. As educators, we cannot decide which materials or methods to utilize during instruction until we have identified specific concepts and skills we want our students to learn. By focusing on required end results, it allows the educator to address what the students need to learn and what data can be collected to show that the ‘end goal’ has been achieved while thinking about how to ensure students learn effectively. When teachers focus on the desired learning, appropriate methods will follow.

Therefore, an example of a constructivist learning environment in a pre- primary classroom would firstly begin with the educator observing a common interest or conversation amongst the young children, for example dogs. As a group the educator would ask the children and document everything they currently knew about dogs. Through this class discussion the educator would document questions about dogs the children did not know. Next through guidance the educator will support the young children in finding the answers to their unknown questions. Through various activities created by the educator, the children will build up knowledge about dogs. The children are then given the opportunity to display their learning to others including friends and family through a model creation or through role play for example (Project Approach, 2014).

Jerome Burner introduced constructivism in 1986. The philosopher sees the theory as a general framework for instruction and he describes it as a collection of views sharing a fundamental assumption about learning that contrasts sharply with assumptions underlying theories such as information processing. The learner actively imposes organization and meaning on the surrounding environment and constructs knowledge in the process. In other words, constructivism theory is one important skill in learning environments that has a set of views contributing basic assumptions about learning. However, in constructivist approaches, the learner acquires knowledge from the surrounding environment and construct or build a meaningful knowledge. What I mean by a

According to Bryman (2012), a constructivism approach is an ontological position that asserts that social actors are continually accomplishing social phenomena and their meanings. This approach assists the researcher to present a particular version of social reality, rather than one that can be regarded as definitive.

Strommen and Lincoln’s article titled “Constructivism, Technology and the Future of Classroom Learning” starts out with and overview of how technology has impacted society over the last 20 years. The authors state that television was the start of the technical tsunami of change we are now experiencing.

The constructivist theory shares some similarities with the cognitive theory. It too places the learners at the center of instructional design. “People construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences” (“Constructivism as a Paradigm,” 2004). In other words, the process that takes place inside the brain involves relating new information and experiences to previous experiences and attitudes. Either new experiences build upon or change previously held ideas depending on whether the new information adds to or contradicts previous understanding.

Constructivism is defined as “learner centered, and it emphasizes the importance of individuals actively constructing their knowledge and understanding with guidance from the teacher” (Santrock,2016). While in theory most teachers agree that this is the best way to learn, many teachers like to stick to lecher based direct instruction approach because constructivism tends to lack the structure that students sitting quietly in their desk provides. Direct instruction approach also streamlines and maximizes the time spent on school work. In classrooms where lots of material much be covered in a short amount of time, teachers rely on this approach to get as much information taught as possible. While this approach works for most, those who it does not work for often fall behind and get discouraged. Unfortunately, I was one of these students. I have a learning disability. Its classified as a processing disorder and major effects my reading and writing skills.

Constructivism is a theory that all learning is built on previous knowledge. In theory, when an individual discovers something new, they reference back to their previous experiences to compare and contrast. From there, we decide whether this information is relevant to us, or we choose to ignore the new knowledge.

Constructivism is the theory that humans construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences. This idea that people learn from experience and not just from hearing lectures was revolutionary and gave birth to the experimental learning approach that is more powerful than lectures and worksheets. By directing their own learning processes, students understand concepts better. In essence constructivism is the theory of how we learn.