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My teaching philosophy
Importance of constructivism theory in education
Constructivist framework education
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A teacher’s philosophy changes from teacher to teacher; depending on each teacher’s background and worldview. Every teacher longs for their student to have excitement about learning. The constructivism theory/philosophy is, I believe, that is the most relatable to a student. Learning needs to be fun and engaging, and keeping each child excited and focused can be challenging. However, it does not have to be. Therefore, the constructivism theory is great for every student. It focuses on the individual child because there are not two students that learn the same. Introduction Being a teacher is one of the most important jobs in the world. In today’s society, it is hard to be a teacher. Students need to have a teacher that has values and understands the importance of these values. A teacher is there to help …show more content…
This theory focuses on critical thinking skills, and creates motivation; in turn creates independent learners. Therefore, the student will use a critical “thinking process, rather than about how a student can memorize and recite a quantity of information” (Liu & Chen, 2010, p. 65). Every activity in the classroom is very interactive and very student focused. The “theory of constructivism says children are actively engaged at something new and innovative” (Ramesh, 2013, p. 62). Which would include encouraging the “children to ask their own questions” (Naylor & Keogh, 1999, p. 101). The process of each activity will encourage the student to be responsible. Therefore, this theory helps the classrooms to be structured so that every student experiences within; for example, imagination, interaction, and personal reflection. This helps a teacher to recognize how every student will use their own experiences and prior knowledge. Therefore, the goal is to produce a classroom environment that provides meaningful learning
The behaviorist and constructivist theories pose a significant debate in early childhood education that questions if curriculum should be based on the children’s natural childlike dispositions or should adults determine and decide every aspect of curriculum. The distinction between the two theories determine what and how young children learn. The behaviorist theory believes that people of all ages learn the same and that behavior is controlled by outside influences and rewards. Whereas, the constructivist theory believes young children develop cognitive structure based on interactions with other people and the environment. Most early childhood programs follow the constructivist theory and are child-centered. According to Freeney, Galper, and
Learning, “as an interpretive, recursive, building process by active learners”, interrelates with the physical and social world (Fosnot, 1996). “Assuming the role as ‘guide on the side’ requires teachers to step off the stage, relinquish some of their power, and release the textbooks to allow their students to be actively engaged and take some responsibility of their own learning” (WhiteClark, DiCarlo, & Gilchriest, 2008, p. 44). Furthermore, constructivism involves developing the student as a learner through cooperative learning, experimentation, and open-ended problems in which students learn on their own through active participation with concepts and principles (Kearsley,
Furthermore, social constructivism allows students to be presented with the same learning experience while giving them the ability to experience it in a way personal to them. I understand we all have varying life experiences that influences our perception of things in the world around us. I fully intend to help guide students to the knowledge needed to be successful, but I will not influence how they apply their knowledge to life experiences. I strongly feel an educator should not be a dictator in the classroom, but instead only a guide to help assist students in testing the capability of their own learning. A social constructivist class is set up in a manner conducive to such and affords students and teachers the opportunity to nurture such style. I place great value on making sure the environment is fair, safe, and welcoming to all. My management style will allow students to feel secure and comfortable to question learning processes and reflect on the “hows” and “whys” without feeling as if they are questioning authority which can often happen in a teacher centered classroom unfortunately. My student centered
Constructivism about providing children with activities that may seem difficult at first but with help or support from the teacher can be mastered and thus will allow maths is learning and skills to increase. Behaviourism believes that children are ‘blank slates’ and that behaviour is shaped through positive reinforcement ("Behaviorism - Learning Theories", 2007). Furthermore to the behaviourism theory, this theory is believed as mentioned by (Anghileri, 2006) that knowledge could be transferred from the teacher to children through a large group and by ‘drill and practice’. Anghileri, 2006 also strongly suggests that this theory has shortcomings as the theory doesn’t explain the ways in which children learn. Therefore, behaviourism theory isn’t efficient enough to teach maths let alone allow children to learn maths in a supportive manner as the constructivism theory
There is no more critical role in our current society than that of a teacher’s. Teachers help shape the minds of the future. Tomorrow's engineers, scientists, politicians, and educators are all greatly influenced by today's instructors. Without teachers society would not be anywhere near where it is now, and only a select few would have access to learning. Sadly however important teachers are in human civilization, they are still drastically understated, unrecognized and under paid.
A. Behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism are relatively common theories used in the classroom as ways to approach student learning. Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior, such as students answering questions correctly, or being able to follow directions to complete a task as instructed. Characteristics of a classroom that uses behaviorism might be memorization of facts, writing vocabulary words, or a token reward system to inspire the desired behavior and decrease undesired behaviors. Constructivism, as indicated by the root word “construct,” focuses on the construction of new ideas, or expanding on what is already known. Students in a classroom using constructivism as a means for learning might seem more actively engaged in the learning process; they often learn something new through applying what they already know about the content area, and exploring new matter to further their understanding. This type of classroom often uses hands on manipulatives to allow students to actually build, create, or experiment with what they are learning. A cognitivism approach to learning might be explained by the minds capacity to process information – such as how a learner might remember something, retrieve information, or store new concepts. Learning through this method often depends on how the student processes what the teacher is presenting. Classrooms using this approach might incorporate learning strategies that help students categorize and sequence information to assist with processing. Like constructivism, it can be an active style of learning.
The concept of constructivism has roots in classical antiquity, going back to Socrates's dialogues with his followers, in which he asked directed questions that led his students to realize for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in the way constructivist educators assess their students' learning and plan new learning experiences. Constructivism Theories assume that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When an individual encounters something new, there is a need to reconcile it with the previous ideas and experience, maybe changing the beliefs, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, an individual is an active creator of knowledge (Concept to Classroom).
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world situations, such as, experiments in science and math real-world problem solving. A constructivist teacher constantly checks up on the student, asking them to reflect what they are learning from this activity. The teacher should be keeping track on how they approached similar situations and help them build on that. The students can actually learning how to learn in a well-planned classroom. Many people look at this learning style as a spiral, the student is constantly learning from each new experience and their ideas become more complex and develop stronger abilities to integrate this information(P. Johnson, 2004). An example of a constructivist classroom would be, the student is in science class and everyone is asking questions, although the teacher knows the answer, instead of just giving it to them, she attempts to get the students to think through their knowledge and try to come up with a logical answer. A problem with this method of learning is that people believe that it is excusing the role of...
Being a teacher is not an easy task as many people could think. To be a teacher does not only imply to know the subject to be taught, it also includes being willing to constantly improve oneself integrally, as much as updating the resources and materials one uses in teaching. Reflecting and analyzing over and over again the best way to teach to learn and how to make students to extend what has been learned. The many hours spend in the classroom will never be enough to plan lessons, prepare materials, review pupils tasks and exams, as well, all the administrative requirements one has to cover for whatever institution we work. Besides all this a good teacher, a professional one, will have to find the time to keep preparing to improve oneself.
Piaget’s cognitive constructivism promotes the PBL approach since PBL makes learners acquire knowledge by doing hands-on projects with groups (Ntombela, 2015; Richhey, Klein & Monica, 2011; Simpson, 2011; Smith, 2015). It is apparent that the characteristics of constructivism theory, which are associated with a range of design features of language instruction, support the implementation of PBL. Constructivist learning changes passive learners to active learners who individually construct their knowledge and learning (Ntombela, 2015). With PBL approach, learners need to search, collect, filter necessary information, self-structured meaning from their learning in particular subject areas, and build perceived knowledge to problem-solving situations
...ued that the only constructivist principle was when the students chose their topic after speaking with the teacher and group activities do not means constructivist (Richardson ,2003).
Constructivism is a defined, when referring to the learner, as a "receptive act that involves construction of new meaning by learners within the context of their current knowledge, previous experience, and social environment" (Bloom; Perlmutter & Burrell, 1999). Also, real life experiences and previous knowledge are the stepping stones to a constructivism, learning atmosphere. (Spigner-Littles & Anderson, 1999). Constructivism involves the learner being responsible for learning the material and, not necessarily, the teacher (Ely; Foley; Freeman & Scheel, 1995). When learning occurs, the goals, values, and beliefs of the individuals need to be linked to the new data. Also, in constructivism, the person, who is taking in the knowledge, can somehow filter, amend, and reformat the information that he or she feels is important to the schema (Spigner-Littles & Anderson, 1999). A constructivist learner uses the creative approach to apply their own meaning to a topic using the social and cognitive circumstances around themselves (Bloom; Perlmutter & Burrell, 1999). A short and sweet summary of constructivism is "how one attains, develops, and uses cognitive processes" (Airasian & Walsh, 1997).
constructivist learning. . . is authentic and understanding-based. . .” which translates to the realness and usefulness of what is constructed due heavily to the fact that it is constructed based on what the child understands from what is happening within the class. This intuitive understanding is developed through a constant interpretation of abstract and concrete. The more the student has to decipher or interchange both, the more their intuitive understanding develops.
First, I realized that, teachers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders and have great responsibilities. They have to balance the curriculum, students, parents, lesson plans, common core, and upper management and still maintain a professional demeanor. Second, educators must follow a strong code of ethics. They must be professional at all times with students and colleagues, keep confidentiality, not have or show any prejudice or bias, maintain safe and positive learning environments, help students with problems, and hand out disciplines accordingly. Lastly, I found that when you’re a teacher, your education never stops. Teachers are always trying to improve their own education and professional growth, both for the benefit of their students and for the benefit of themselves.