constructivist classroom: A classroom in which the teacher uses pedagogical methods that are based on the constructivist theory of learning. The constructivist theory holds that the student is the center of learning, and the teacher should act as a facilitator of the student's learning, not as an instructor. The constructivist classroom takes many forms, but at heart it is based on the belief that the student is the one who does the learning and therefore must take responsibility for his or her own learning.In the public schools: constructivism.
EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon
by Diane Ravitch
p. 58
constructivism
Constructivist theory posits that children build new information onto preexisting notions and modify their understanding in light of new data. In the process, their ideas increase in complexity and power. Constructivist theorists dismiss the idea that students learn by absorbing information through lectures or repeated rote practice.
Education Week Guide to K-12 Terminology
p. 23
In the great charter schools: Lemov's Taxonomy.
My god, this is absurd! How many years did it take Newton and Leibniz to come up with calculus? And they started out knowing algebra already, and they were geniuses to boot! Kids -- geniuses, average kids, and kids who need a bit of help -- have only 12-13 years in school to learn what they're supposed to learn by the time they graduate from high school. That's not enough time for them to derive every bit of knowledge from scratch!
ReplyDeleteConstructivism is dogma in most colleges of education-- a secular religion. Here’s my favorite constructivism quote. It’s from an article called “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism” by D.C. Phillips:
ReplyDeleteAcross the broad fields of educational theory and research, constructivism has become something akin to a secular religion. … constructivism, which is, whatever else it may be, a “powerful folktale” about the origins of human knowledge. As in all living religions, constructivism has many sects – each of which harbours some distrust of its rivals. This descent into sectarianism, and the accompanying growth in distrust of nonbelievers, is probably the fate of all large-scale movements inspired by interesting ideas; and it is the ideological or ugly side of the present scene, which is reflected in my article’s title.
"children build new information onto preexisting notions and modify their understanding in light of new data. In the process, their ideas increase in complexity and power."
ReplyDeleteTrue but obvious. Who would disagree?
"Constructivist theorists dismiss the idea that students learn by absorbing information through lectures or repeated rote practice."
A non sequitur. Why can't the "new data" in light of which children build new information, etc., come from lectures and repeated practice?
Thanks to Ruth Joy for calling this earlier post to my attention.
By the way, is it just my imagination, or has Lemov's book been largely ignored by mainstream education journals like Education Week?
By the way, is it just my imagination, or has Lemov's book been largely ignored by mainstream education journals like Education Week?
ReplyDeleteEd Week is about as objective as Phi Delta Kappan. Which is to say they are not.