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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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I’ve gotten several students who were previously at Montessori schools. Most of the time they will say “but I don’t want to do that” because they are used to being able to choose what they do and when.
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I would say I’ve seen a more constructivist approach to learning in allowing students to choose which math or science they take each year. I definitely think students have more buy-in with their courses when they were able to choose which ones to take and when. However, not all small private schools, and even some public schools, have the resources to provide such options to students.
Another example I’ve seen is during my time at college. Students aren’t required to take notes or come to course prepared in college like they are often required to do in high school. Because of this, I could usually tell within the first few weeks of a new course, which students would either fail or dropout and which ones would pass based on how prepared they were for course and whether they chose to take notes or not during the lectures. In this case, giving students the option of whether to take notes or not had no effect on some (they would take notes regardless) but was detrimental to others.
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I once incorporated a “textbook” constructivist lab curriculum after attending a workshop. Students were confused by the activities and did not gain an understanding of many concepts.
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In some ways, yes when I was teaching part time at a learning center for younger kinds, but not to the extend of what true Montessori is, that wherein a child determines their own learning, there’s still a lot of structure and there’s a lesson plan as well. Since it was a learning center for special needs kids, structure actually puts in place so the students can also learn to build positive habits.
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There are times when it is appropiate. It does give the students a chance to use their own thinking and ideas to enhance a topic. I have never experienced where they have complete control over what they are learning.
