We just delved into Constructivism—for some of you, this seems intuitive. Still, my guess is that for most of you this was not typical of your K-12 (or even some higher-ed) experiences. What does Constructivism, as you understand it so far, mean to you? Reflect on your past as a student and how you hope to apply this concept (or not apply it, as the case may be) in your career as a teacher.
 |
| Constructivists vs. Objectivist |
Personally, I have not had a class that used the Constructivism method. Mainly all the classes I have had an Objective point of view, that just entailed lectures, note taking, class discussions, etc. As I understand so far, Constructivism is hands-on learning. In class we watched two different videos. Both were two lessons being taught in the classroom. The first was demonstrating Objectivism. While viewing this video, it was hard to get into it and did not seem interesting to say the least. A man was just talking to a class about Egypt. Yet, he did have some good examples, the lecture was still nothing like the next video that look at the Objectivist way of teaching. In this video the guest teacher only instructed for maybe five minutes explaining what the kids would be doing. Then the kids would go on and work in groups to achieve the task. The Teacher gave them a time limit and the kids got to work. When the time was up the teacher then held a class discussion about their thoughts and feelings about the project.
To me, Constructivism seems like the way to go. Hands on learning requires the children to participate and interact with other students. When it does come to teaching, though, I hope to have the Constructivist point of view. I am going to strive for hands on learning and, Constructivistic or not, for my students to succeed in the best way possible. Being a Special Education Teacher, I feel Constructivism is the best possible method to me, though, because all-in-all it is personal, hands-on, helpful, and interesting. I believe, if possible, all teachers should try it out!
I completely agree with you! I believe constructivism is the way to go. Hands on learning seems to be better when teaching any student, but especially special education students. I think special education students really need a creative way of teaching so they can learn what they need to learn. I am sure lectures would not be beneficial for special education students. So, constructivism is very important for them.
ReplyDelete