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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 have experienced a constructive approach to learning and teaching. I am someone who enjoys studying through discussion and hands-on activities. We have had time to critical think critically, ask questions, and make conclusions.
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I observed in second and third grade classes at a Montessori school. Although students were given choices as to which station they participated in, they were required to check off that which they completed and required to complete all of the stations. The instructor introduced each station to the class as a whole and added one at a time. The classes were relatively peaceful, and each had a teacher’s aide. The school was only run Montessori style through third grade, then changed to a more traditional approach. Because the constructionist strategy was monitored, and perhaps not staying true to the strategy, it did seem to be working, but the teacher made sure each student understood and each station was complete.
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Yes I have. I’m so glad that Dr. Black used the example of Montessori (while considering both pro and con perspectives). I worked briefly at a local Montessori and saw the good work accomplished there (creative play, life examples, creative center environments), but recognized immediately what Dr. Black points to – the autonomy of the child in deciding when, where, how these classroom activities start, progress and end according to student whim. Now again, it wasn’t with intended fault, just the opposite, a number of the students has special learning abilities (ADHD, Autism, ODD, Bipolar, etc.) so the very real responsibility of keeping them tethered to a particular time regulation, a daily structure and schedule became challenging. It became difficult to observe as a seasoned teacher how new teachers were struggling with this balance.
As I moved on to work at another school, I would realize too late that they also were catering to a large varied learning ability classroom, but in a 1:1 environment. So these students were quite contrary to the Montessori program, instead they were bucking again the system in place and were showing what I now understand is constructivism. I’ve moved on from there despite some pretty enjoyable and wonderful experiences and student encounters. Today I was able to finally give a name to what I had so much conflict with and why it was such a challenging environment at times.
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I employ a bit of all three curriculum orientations. I like to engage the students with activities that implement creative and group learning as well as some traditional teaching. I am always flexible as we all know, what is planned sometimes goes another direction!
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I like to design my lessons around a traditional approach as an outline. I then allow my students to select creative projects and or activities that appeal to them that result in learning the defined objective.
