Constructivism

=Constructivism =

Constructivism emphasizes that new knowledge is a personal creation, that is socially mediated (Schwartz, M. and Fischer, K., 2003).

 A constructivist classroom is a student-centered, democratic environment: students have a stake in the learning that goes on, and a voice in how that learning is achieved. Students are encouraged to develop and test hypotheses, to try to understand the "why" for a given question. Knowledge is meant to be used, and applied, not memorized.

 This does require that teachers give up some of the traditional control found in a teacher-centered classroom, which can be difficult at first. Constructivist teachers are encouraged to "facilitate personal learning by establishing a community of learners, and by making it clear to the student that he or she is part of that community" (Alkove and McCarty, 1992). While the idea of an unstructured classroom can seem challenging, and even scary, it does require effort, and the setting of clear boundaries.

 This [|link] summarizes the differences between teacher-centered and student-centered classrooms.

Figure 1: A mind-map of the relationships between constructivism and other learning theories (Lacoursiere, 2008).

Setting up Rules in a Constructivist Classroom
Early in the course (i.e., the first day), allow the students, with your guidance, to help author the rules, and the consequences. This sets the tone right away that this is a democratic classroom. Castle and Rogers (1993) report that allowing students to co-construct the classroom rules empowers them, making them feel ownership. They will often reflect more on their own behaviour (positive and negative), and the effects on the learning of others.

Physical Environment
While the environment can vary, the least likely arrangement of desks is in rows. A teacher attempting to set up a constructivist classroom will likely have groups of desks, to facilitate student discussion, or circles of chairs, so that students can meet and share. There will be lots of evidence of student work on the walls, as well as manipulatives for learning. The teacher's desk is not generally positioned in the front/center position (Laidley, 1999).

The Role of the Teacher
At first, it may be unclear what the role of the teacher is in a constructivist classroom. The role of the teacher is to spark student interest in curriculum topics, help students develop questions for study related to the topic at hand, guide students on how to research or test their idea, and then assist them in communicating their learning. When starting with a curriculum expectation (or cluster of expectations), the teacher would start by determining an appropriate activity to help students meet the curriculum expectation, which has some personal relevance or interest to the students, and can draw on their prior learning.

Gray (n.d.) describes a constructivist [|jigsaw] activity designed around reading a section (The Prologue, which introduces all of the main characters) of //The Canterbury Tales//. The teacher provided the students with a copy of the text, a pronunciation guide. Students in the class were assigned small sections, and as a class, worked to read through the section, and translate it. Students then chose to join an expert group based on a specific character in the section, and then read some background character information provided by the teacher. Students were then given time to research, in groups, to find out more information about their specific character (e.g., social/historical context, etc.). They then formed new groups: each with a different character, for "Table Talk at the Tabard". They had to write a short script and present a conversation between their characters, for presentation to the class.

**Resources**:
This is an excellent [|website] which outlines what a constructivist classroom looks like, with some ideas for learning activities, and samples of assessment.

Although we have provided a section on Assessment and Evaluation, here is a helpful [|link] for understanding what assessment looks like in a constructivist classroom.