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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 think in small ways I have seen this approach take place. I do remember in my own 4th grade reading course having a very large project to do on the book “Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.” We had a list of things to accomplish but several choices in each category as to what we wanted to do. That made the overwhelming project feel more attainable when I was given the freedom to choose portions that interested me. To me, constructivism is one of those things that sounds better in theory than it would work in reality. I am all in favor of hands on learning and engaging students as much as possible. I think they should have some choices, but as Dr. Black mentioned there is so much benefit gained from things we might not necessarily want to do. As an adult I can make a decision about lessons for my students that I know they will not love but will allow for growth that is deep when we reach the end.
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I have not really experienced this approach fully implemented. I have heard wonderful things about Montessori schools teaching children independence and giving them their own voice. I can see how these are valuable skills and could help them develop leadership skills. I guess the closest thing that I experienced was with one of my seminary professors. He had a list of 25 assignments and let students choose the six they wanted to complete. I really enjoyed that and I did learn from it.
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When I was in middle school, we used a home-economics course to model a business. Everyone provided input on their roles and responsibilities and we developed and sold a product. I learned more from that approach, in that content area, than if we had just been lectured too (which was also part of the class).
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Aside from being an educator outside the home, I have also been a Home-school mom. In being part of the home school community, I have witnessed parents who allow their children to choose their own learning. It was interesting that Dr. Black shared constructionist belief of the learner choosing what and when to learn. I on the other hand, chose to parallel our curriculum with state standards, but covering them with a Christian viewpoint. I believe my children benefited from the that structure.
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I had never thought about it before but, I suppose my art room is hugely impacted by the constructivist approach. I usually teach a specific art element, give examples or a demonstration of a particular media and then let the students go at it. I have all levels of experience in one room and I try to make it an environment where they are not afraid to make a mistake. This past year, I had a student who was not a great artist and he struggled with every project. It was very difficult to teach him that it was okay to mess up, and as long as he was trying he was going to get a good grade in my course. It is not about the end product as much as the motivation of the student.
