Constructivist+Teaching

[|The Constructivist Classroom]

Focusing on one or two components of the latter text, describe how constructivist teaching and learning is related to the Standards of Practice, especially to the building and exercising of ”Professional Knowledge” and “Professional Practice.”

...some reflections from teachers...

A constructivist classroom is a student-centred environment where the teacher acts as a facilitator to their learning. Constructivism is democratic and process-oriented. This applies to the OCT’s Standards of Practice in that the teacher uses current “professional knowledge” and pedagogical strategies to meet student needs. This means the teacher will use differentiated instruction as well as various different assessment strategies to focus more on the learning process and to make the leaning experience more meaningful for the students. It also applies to “professional practice” as the teacher must respond to the individual student needs and adapt to their specific classroom environment as students teach teachers how they learn.

Professional Knowledge” and “Professional Practice”.

Component RE: “Constructivism Uses a Process Approach” by Audrey Gray

In Aubrey Grays article she mentions as part of her “Constructivist Teaching and Learning” that “Constructivism uses a process approach”.

Some of the key ideas are:

A. “rather than emphasizing characteristics of the final products, process-oriented instruction focuses on the language and problem-solving strategies that students need to learn in order to generate those products”

B. Provide students the opportunities to “explore new ideas and experiences- a teacher's role in providing information decreases and is replaced by a- strengthened role in eliciting and supporting students' own thinking and meaning-making abilities.”

C. Create a safe learning environment where “taking risks and generating hypotheses are encouraged by postponing evaluation; and where new skills are learned in supportive instructional contexts.”

D. "students have the best chance to focus on the ideas they are writing about and to develop more complex thinking and reasoning skills as they defend their ideas for themselves"

E. Constructivist activities… first thing that she or he would have to do is establish an educational objective... meaningful activity which would… help students to reach the objective and to explore and construct knowledge…

The above 5 points emphasized by Aubrey connects with the 5 key aspects of standard practice (Ethical Standards…. Professional Practice, 2010).

1. Commitment to students and their learning: ensuring students have equal access to quality education that focuses on providing opportunities for learning, support student metacognitive development, providing a safe environment conducive of intellectual risk taking and growth, accommodating/modifying according to the student’s unique potential (e.g. multiple intelligences).

2. Leadership in Learning Communities: promoting students to become critical thinkers and active assessors of their own knowledge, skills, learning, and experiences- as to become effective citizens and life long learners.

3. Ongoing Professional Learning: teachers as reflective practitioners- observe and adjust their instruction- based on the student’s unique learning styles and characteristics. Develop skills that focus on supporting student’s metacognitive development. Learn and apply constructive activities that reflect learning expectations and authentic learning.

4. Professional Knowledge and 5. Professional Practice: professional knowledge/practice that connections content/instructional-skill/knowledge-to- the promotion of student learning. Teachers critically examine student development (e.g. Aubrey key idea C/B), learning theory (e.g Aubrey key idea D), pedagogy (e.g. Aubrey key idea A), curriculum (e.g. Aubrey key idea E), ethics, educational research, policies and legislation. Using the knowledge/inferences to produce effective pedagogical practices, assessment and evaluation, provide resources and technology before-during-after student learning- to respond to the needs of a heterogonous class demographic.

Constructivist teaching uses a student-centered approach to teaching, allowing students to assist in the process of their learning. Teachers in turn act as a guide for the students who learn through their ongoing experiences. The standards of practice states that teachers should be “current in their professional knowledge” and I feel that students play a huge role in showing teachers what is current in their world today. Students learn much more effectively when the material at hand is relatable, and when a teacher stays up to date they will be able to mould their lessons around current topics. This also allows teachers to respond appropriately to “the needs of individual students and learning communities” that the standards of professional practice promotes. Constructivist teaching uses a process approach which doesn’t focus entirely on the outcome. This gives teachers the opportunity to “understand and reflect on student development” which again allows them to focus on student needs and “refine their professional practice” which are all outlined in the standards of practice. During the process teachers can assess where students are at and change or modify lessons as needed for the success of the students. Using student feedback is also a very effective strategy here.

The way in which constructivist teaching is very much related to the Standards of Practice is when you look at the idea of organizing and managing your classroom in a democratic manner. In the past, classrooms have been run as a somewhat tyranical dictatorship, with the teachers having the only and final word for all classroom issues. However, we have learned that a classroom which runs in a democratic manner has many positives to it. When students become activly involved in the creation of rules, assignments and rubrics they find a sense of belonging and community within the classroom, which has very positive outcomes. Not only will the students feel more of a part of a classroom commmunity, but they will also feel as if they have 'control' over their acedemic lives. This in turn, will evolve disinterested students into students who care. The four ethical standards for OCT are Care, Respect , Trust and Integrity. It's no surprise that these are also the main foundations (//usually)// for any democratic nation.

Constructive teaching and learning speaks to engaging the students on their level, having them take ownership of their learning by giving them choice. The Standards of Practice, more specifically Professional Learning and Professional Knowledge speak to how we has professionals need to continuously develop new strategies that keep us ahead of the learning curve. We need to engage in self reflection of our students and ourselves and adapt our programming to the needs of the group. Both speak to enhancing our programs to meet the needs our of students, empowering the students to take ownership in their choices and to make choices within their learning and to act as a role model, “facilitator” rather than a dictator of the classroom.

The latter article resonated with me because I feel that I make every attempt to mold my classroom in this form. I make clear to the students that although I am their teaching, I would much rather consider myself the "head-learner" in the class of all learners. One way to facilitate this constructivist mentality into the traditional classroom is to change the configuration of the seating and the classroom. I like to arrange my class into the "aboriginal circle"; one big circle with no head and no leader - all equal. This allows students to feel on the same plane with their peers and the teacher.

In relation to professional knowledge, with the current trend in incorporating Aboriginal themes and the Aboriginal perspective into our curriculum and our classroom, this simple classroom management piece can effectively do both.

The constructive teaching and learning relates to our standards of practice. Teachers are exercising through the deliberately creation of a constructive classroom. It implements our professional practice in many ways. However, I found that it needs to be changed from the personal experience of traditional learning which I am used to it. In this reading, I have learned constructive learning is student-centered learning where students are constructors, builders and creators. Therefore, teachers must allow students a more pro-active, interactive environment and encourage the possibility of independent critical thinking. It will allow students to come up with their own questions and investigate, using reason through their mental process. The teachers practice their professions as facilitators with awareness of how each student learns and how to use their own experiences to build etc. The teacher provides a variety of motivation to incorporate ideas and strategies.

The constructive teaching and learning relates to our standards of practice. Teachers are exercising through the deliberately creation of a constructive classroom. It implements our professional practice in many ways. However, I found that it needs to be changed from the personal experience of traditional learning which I am used to it. In this reading, I have learned constructive learning is student-centered learning where students are constructors, builders and creators. Therefore, teachers must allow students a more pro-active, interactive environment and encourage the possibility of independent critical thinking. It will allow students to come up with their own questions and investigate, using reason through their mental process. The teachers practice their professions as facilitators with awareness of how each student learns and how to use their own experiences to build etc. The teacher provides a variety of motivation to incorporate ideas and strategies.

Constructivist teaching is a system that is centered on the needs of the student. It assumes that all students come with prior knowledge called schema and that new knowledge is added to or built upon the existing knowledge. In a constructivist classroom, the teacher assumes the role of facilitator rather than dispenser of knowledge. This arrangement fosters critical thinking and creates active motivated and independent learners. The constructivist classroom is a bee-hive of activity. Students are busy learning at their own pace. Theoretically it is possible that no two students are doing the same activity.

The OCT standard of Professional Knowledge states that teachers must be current in their knowledge in-order to fully benefit their students. Additionally, the Professional Practice standard lays out the expectation that teachers, "...apply professional knowledge and experience to promote student learning." These two standards support the constructivist classroom in that the teacher must be knowledgable and be able to fill the role of facillitator and lead students as they construct new knowledge. The teacher-facilitator must be able to scaffold the expectations to help learners at all levels to gain new knowledge.

The OCT document on the foundations of professional practice describes the teaching profession as “an evolving body of professional knowledge and skills.” If this description is accurate (and I think it is) than your classroom and teaching methods should reflect and promote the evolution of skills and knowledge. A constructivist classroom allows for students and educators to grow and evolve together in a democratic environment. Constructivism shatters the banking model of education where the teacher holds the knowledge and distributes it to the passive participants. A constructivist classroom allows the student to become actively involved in their own learning. Responsibilities are shared, interaction is authentic and the result is empowered students.

What I took from these two readings, is I need to be good role model for my students. If I want the learner to be motivated, independant learners, who are caring, respectful, trustworthy and demonstrate integrity - I need to do the same myself. To be an effective facilitator I should be committed to the students and their learning, involved in developing my professional knowledge, be a good leader in my community and my own on-going learning. Developing a classroom that is students centered, teaching on prior learning, offering a variety of activities to fosters critical thinking is important to the students learning as well as my own. I don't have to be the Know-It-All

Moving to a constructivist classroom requires teachers to switch gears from the traditional position to that of a guide to develop students into individual thinkers. In making this switch teachers will need to refine their practice through inquiry, dialogue and reflection. The use of Learning Communities becomes helpful as teachers can work together and inquire into how the students are learning. Collaborating with other teachers can bring about new ideas to create a better classroom for students to learn. By understanding how your students learn one can more effectively move towards a student-centered classroom.

Constructivist teaching and learning is much different from a traditional teaching environment as a constructivist teaching and learning classroom is student-centered, oppose to the teacher possessing the authoritarian role and students passively learning in that manner. Audrey Gray describes a constructivist classroom as the teacher facilitating a process of learning and students are encouraged to be responsible and autonomous. Students are encouraged to develop critical thinking and make connections to their previous knowledge and experiences. A constructivist teaching and learning environment is democratic and motivates students to become independent learners. Constructivist teaching and learning relates to the standards of practice as they both strive in creating an engaging, inclusive learning environment for all students. Ways in which this can be done is by creating a safe and comfortable learning community for all students, make lessons fun and creative and providing constant feedback to students. Our classrooms are not teacher-centered but student-centered, we are to work at incorporating differentiated instruction into our lessons to meet the needs of all learners. For us to do so we have to also continue our own education and attend professional development in order to be aware of new strategies and concepts so we can provide students with the best possible education. Engaging students and providing them with the opportunity to foster their development of critical thinking and applying their own experiences within the classroom, will inspire them to work towards their success and meeting both short and long term goals.

The constructivist teaching style requires more work and better preparation that is normally required under the standard teaching model. As a constructivist teacher modelling a different type of learning, one that is generally not understood by students, can open students to the opportunity to learn for themselves. Many students can experience this personal growth without realizing they are doing the work themselves. The role of guide is one that many teachers have difficulty changing to. With practice all teachers can provide students with the opportunity to experience their own personal growth while allowing different interpretations of the material. As long as there is learning taking place, the differences become irrelevant.This becomes a drastic change to the common form of professional practice. It may take professionals several attempts and much advancement in their professional knowledge in order to over come the common misconception that constructivism or group work as it is sometimes called doesn't work. With practice even the most skeptical teacher can augment their lessons to embrace the constructivist teaching style.

Constructivist teaching requires teachers to develop, reflect, and modify daily teaching practices, as noted in Professional Practice. Similar to the strategies of the Professional Learning Cycle: Plan, act, observe, reflect, Constructivism requires constant reflection of daily classroom practice, assessments, and evaluations used. Through this self-refection process, one can modify their professional practice. Also, certain strategies used with one class may not be as effective when used with another. Since constructivism focuses on student-centred learning, it lends itself to the Committment to Students and Student Learning Standard. Students, either as a class, in small groups, or individually, are given opportunity to direct their learning and develop effective critical thinking skills. This approach to learning also recognizes various learning styles and allows students to learn based on their experience and learning styles.