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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 taught preschool for many years and used this approach as most preschools do with learning center. My experience with constructivism at this level was positive.
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I didn’t know that I had experienced a constructionist approach to education until I watched this video. Before I was hired as a full-time educator I spent a year as a substitute teacher. In all of the elementary courses I taught in students had learning centers that they all participated in. In reflection, in many of those experiences students were given the perception that they had control but really didn’t have the option to choose what learning center they participated in. Either they rotated through all of them in the morning or would rotate daily. The impact overall in my experience was a positive one. It engaged students in a multitude of different subjects and was hands on for them.
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No, I have always stayed away from this approach. The closest I came to it was in a Classical Christian school, but it also incorporated Montessori. I was very cautious when accepting the job because of the Montessori aspect; however, it was more about the hands-on approach and giving the students options.
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I have taught Common Core which is very much in the Constructivist vain. It is very confusing to students they want the teacher to lead them in the discussions and not just watch and facilitate. It often lead to me teaching in my traditional way, but making sure to cover the subjects that were required in the curriculum.
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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.