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Have you in your own education, your children’s education, or in a school you’ve taught at experienced a constructivist approach to education? If so, describe some of the impact (positive or negative) you experienced/witnessed.
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In some homeschool communities, a few families would study through a whole unit based on the interests of the child. For example, if a boy really likes dinosaurs, every subject, like math, history, etc. would focus on dinosaurs. This kept the child interested in schoolwork. However, the focus may be too narrow and other topics would be neglected.
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We do not use the constructivist approach in our school, but I can see where some aspects may be beneficial especially with active younger learners. I can also see a perfect storm if this is an only approach to teaching where both teachers and students are stressed by not having parameters set and allowing each individual to do what’s “best” for them.
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Our school does not have a constructivist approach but will allow some aspects of the individual learner into the classroom. What I have observed from students coming into second grade from a constructivist learning environment is an unsettled child that frequently gets bored when something is not “interesting” to him/her. There also seems to be a lack of understanding boundaries in these individuals. While I love all learning styles and appreciate we are all made uniquely yet in God’s image, I do feel there should be a standard in the classroom to which the student will rise in all areas. If I were not forced to do some things in life I would never know what I know now and be willing to understand different people. It would all be about what I want and no one else. I do not want to have students who leave my classroom in that manner.
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Yes, I have taught using the constructivist approach. While students enjoy the learning process as they get to discover the knowledge, it proved challenging to instill universal truths.
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I haven’t experienced a constructivist approach in education that I’m aware of. I can see how at times I engage student’s interests when thinking of examples to use in the classroom to model real life application of the math we are discussing, but I wouldn’t necessarily say this comes from a constructivist approach.
