The effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond faces many challenges. These challenges not only relate to the approach of the teacher but are directed at the changing needs of the students and the role and ability of the teacher in meeting those needs. How the teacher will accommodate these needs and the theories of teaching and learning will be outlined in the following discussion.
The theory of constructivism indicates: “Learners construct, rather than record, knowledge' (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p226). New understanding and knowledge is actively developed by reflecting and building on previous learning, everyday experiences and actions. Constructivist teachers are student focused; believing learning is not a submissive process of listening, memorisation and rote learning but requires active and interactive student involvement.
Students develop at varying rates and cultural and social factors influence understanding and previous knowledge. This helps explain why each student develops their own understanding and why misconceptions of knowledge occur. “Constructivism helps us understand why differences in prior knowledge are so important in classroom learning” (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p. 231).
Constructivism is based on the research of many different theorists, including Piaget and Vygotsky. Effective teaching for the 21st century embraces a combination of both styles, placing the student at the centre of the learning process. This combination of different theorists’ approaches has the potential to develop an ever greater opportunity for learners to meet the changing needs required in the year 2010 and beyond.
Piaget's theory of cognitive constructivism indicates children search for understanding in their environment to develop individual internal knowledge, thus focusing on “...the cognitive processes that people use to make sense of the world.” (Killen, 2007, p. 7).Piaget believed the learner is advanced through three mechanisms:-
1) Assimilation – fitting a new experience into an existing mental structure.
2) Accommodation – revising an existing schema because of new experience
3) Equilibrium – seeking cognitive stability through assimilation and accommodation.
Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism indicates social interaction has a direct influence on the construction of knowledge suggesting surroundings contribute to learner comprehension. Vygotsky introduced the Zone of Proximal Development, the area between where students manage their own knowledge without assistance to the stage beyond this, where support is required from someone who has required additional information, sometimes known as the More Knowledgeable Other. At school, effective teachers, and sometimes other students are the ‘More Knowledgeable Other’. Vygotsky also believed placing the teacher in an active role while students' mental abilities develop naturally through various paths and discovery. Vygotsky's theory presents three principles:
1) Making meaning – the community places a central role, and the people around the student greatly affect the way he or she sees the world.
2) Tools for cognitive development – the type and quality of these tools (culture, language, important adults to the student) determine the pattern and rate of development.
3) The Zone of Proximal Development – problem solving skills of tasks can be placed into three categories: Those performed independently by the learner. Those that cannot be performed even with help. Those that fall between the two extremes, the tasks that can be performed with help from others (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010).
The constructivist foundation of effective teaching and learning is experience and discovery, supporting the use of manipulative and authentic learning opportunities. “...children learn math most effectively if they discover ideas while manipulating concrete objects such as blocks and sticks, rather than having them presented by a teacher...” (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.227). The students develop metacognition, critical thought processes and social development skills that will be utilised throughout life.
A constructivist learning setting differs greatly from one based on the traditional model. In the constructivist classroom the teacher becomes a guide for the learner, providing scaffolding, helping to extend the learners' zone of proximal development (Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D., 2010).
Brooks & Brooks (1993) offer an interesting comparison of the visible differences between the traditional and the constructivist classroom.
Traditional classroom | Constructivist Classroom |
Student primarily works alone. | Students primarily work in groups. |
Curriculum is presented part to whole, with emphasis on basic skills (bottom - up). | Curriculum is presented whole to part with emphasis on the big concept (top - down). |
Strict adherence to a fixed curriculum is highly valued. | Pursuit of student questions is highly valued. |
Curricular activities rely heavily on textbooks of data and manipulative materials. | Curricular activities rely heavily on primary sources. |
Students are viewed as "blank slates" onto which information is etched by the teacher. | Students are viewed as thinkers with emerging theories about the world. |
Teachers generally behave in a didactic manner, disseminating information to students. | Teachers generally behave in an interactive manner mediating the environment for students. |
Teachers seek the correct answers to validate student lessons. | Teachers seek the student's point of view in order to understand student learning for use in subsequent conceptions. |
Assessment of student learning is viewed as separate from teaching and occurs almost entirely through testing. | Assessment of student learning is interwoven with teaching and occurs through teacher observation of students at work and through exhibitions and portfolios |
The key features of a Constructivist teacher are:-
- Encourage and accept student’s autonomy and initiative.
- Use raw data and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive, and physical materials.
- When framing tasks, use cognitive terminology such as ‘classify’, ‘analyse’, ‘predict’, and ‘create’.
- Allow students responses to drive lessons, shift instruction strategies, and alter content.
- Inquire about students understanding of concepts before sharing own understanding of those concepts.
- Encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with one another.
- Encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging students to ask questions of each other.
- Seek elaboration of student’s initial responses.
- Engage students in experiences that might engender contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encourage discussion.
- All wait time after posing questions.
- Provide time for students to construct relationships and create metaphors.
- Nurture student’s natural curiosity through frequent use of the learning cycle model.
The Modern classroom is no longer dominated by the teacher directed instruction (Marsh, 2008) instead focussing on student centred learning, thus “...creating learning environments in which learners exchange ideas and collaborate in solving problems is an essential teachers role” ( Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.228). Also, the future teacher creates an interactive environment of group work, which allows students to control their own learning and presents them with direct feedback in the learning process.
A successful constructivist teacher involves the students in decision making and provides challenging learning experience with consideration of all learning styles and available teaching methods. Effective techniques include:
- Modelling: The demonstration of skills, with ongoing verbal descriptions of the thought processes involved.
- Verbalisation: Ask students’ questions to encourage thinking and descriptions of their thought processes.
- Increase complexity: provide challenges as the Zone of Proximal Development expands and develops.
- Exploration: Provide the opportunity for students to link their knowledge with other learning areas and problems.
- Scaffolding: Support provided to assist skill development and autonomous learning (Eggen & Kauchak, 2010).
We are teaching our student to be multi-taskers in an ever-changing global community. Preparing future generations, learning for life, where learning makes sense, children that as they become adults will take leading roles in the way the world will go forward. Preparing children for their future life, simply because they learn to think by themselves and to react to real-life situations. It is inquiry based which means allowing the learner to actually want to learn, becoming responsible for their own learning.
Being thinkers, inquirers, risk-takers, communicators, caring and reflective - all of these aspects of a student in the 21st century are necessary in finding the answers they need. If we teach our children how to think for themselves, they will be successful in whatever they do.
The school in the 21st century has evolved and continues to evolve in a more developed and demanding environment. Unless teachers in the 21st century recognise the change and captivate the needs of students and society in the conducive setting they will be failing in their responsibility. By adopting the approaches by Piaget and Vygotsky, this will assist our children in reaching these goals.
