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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 don’t have personal experience with a constructivist approach to education. The Montessori approach is popular in preschool in my area, and I do know young parents who apply many Montessori ideas about child-led choice in their homes. I don’t personally know anyone who takes the approach to an extreme. While most educators try to incorporate some element of student choice in the curriculum, I think the schools that adopt the philosophy in its pure form, particularly at higher grade levels, are not that common — even in secular education.
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I currently use a constructivist approach. I allow my students to show me what they have learned by choosing different assignments to show their learning. I also allow them to navigate what we learn and how we move forward with different topics we cover. It has helped them buy in to the learning.
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In my own classroom, I give students the option to choose their own book report books provided they meet with my approval. Some students were freed by the opportunity, but many were burdened by having to do the work to make a choice. During major projects, students are allowed to choose the topic within given parameters. I find students who choose from their own interests are more engaged in the initial excitement of a project, but may struggle more as the work of the project continues. Within both of these choice options, the standards for the project dictate much of the students’ work yet provide a measure of independence and personal responsibility. I find the freedom to be creative is not fully embraced nor does it lead to excellence by many learners and has to be guided to achieve truly excellent results.
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In special education, where I have quite a lot of experience and knowledge, I have found that a constructivist approach can work when the choices are within a confine of controlled choices. So yes, you can choose this or that as an approach to a lesson but the outcome would be the same – a concept introduction, an activity relating to a concept taught or assessment, a student can have choices but achieve the desired outcome. I feel that many early learning centers (where I have over 14 years experience) are too far on the constructivist side and this does not allow for children to learn how to function within a group or learn social norms and courtesies, such as sharing toys, having a back and forth conversation or even simply collaborating whether its using building blocks or solving a math story.
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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.