Social constructivist approaches

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Social constructivist approaches

Social constructivist programs

Schools for thought

A social constructivist program that combines aspects of The Jasper Project, Fostering a Community of Learners (FCL), and Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE)

Fostering a community of learners

Ann Brown and Joe Campione have developed a program called Fostering a Community of Learners (FCL), which focuses on literacy development and biology. As currently established, it is set in inner-city elementary schools and is appropriate for 6- to 12-year-old children. Reflection and discussion are key dimensions of the program. In FCL, constructive commentary, questioning, querying, and criticism are the norm rather than the exception. Many of the class activities occur in small groups in which students talk with, try to convince, and challenge each other. Although teachers guide topic selection, an important goal is to gradually turn over responsibility for learning to students. The FCL program emphasizes three strategies that encourage reflection and discussion: (1) the use of adults as role models, (2) children teaching children, and (3) online computer consultation.

Teachers and peers as joint constribution to students' learning

Cooperative learning

It occurs when students work in small groups to help each other learn. Cooperative learning has increasingly been used in recent years to improve student learning and skills

Tutoring

Tutoring is basically cognitive apprenticeship between an expert and a novice. Tutoring can take place between an adult and a child or between a more skilled child and a less skilled child. Individual tutoring is an effective strategy that benefits many students, especially those who are not doing well in a subject

Cogntitive apprenticeship

A relationship in which an expert stretches and supports a novice’s understanding and use of a culture’s skill

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is the technique of changing the level of support over the course of a teaching session; a more skilled person (teacher or more advanced peer of the child) adjusts the amount of guidance to fit the student’s current performance. When the task the student is learning is new, the teacher might use direct instruction. As the student’s competence increases, the teacher provides less guidance

Structuring small-group work

Structioring small-group interaction

One way to facilitate students’ work in small groups is to assign students different roles. For example, consider these roles that students can assume in a group: ● Encourager—brings out reluctant students and is a motivator ● Gatekeeper—equalizes participation of students in the group ● Coach—helps with academic content ● Checker—makes sure the group understands the material ● Taskmaster—keeps the group on task ● Recorder—writes down ideas and decisions ● Quiet captain—monitors the group’s noise level ● Materials monitor—obtains and returns supplies

Team-building skills

Good cooperative learning in the classroom requires that time be spent on team building skills. This involves thinking about how to start team building at the beginning of the school year, helping students become better listeners, giving students practice in contributing to a team product, getting students to discuss the value of a team leader, and working with team leaders to help them deal with problem situations.

Composing the group

Is generally recommend heterogeneous groups with diversity in ability, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, and gender. The reasoning behind heterogeneous grouping is that it maximizes opportunities for peer tutoring and support, improves cross-gender and cross-ethnic relations, and ensures that each group has at least one student who can do the work

Social constructivist approaches to learning

Situated cognition

Situated cognition is an important assumption in the social constructivist approaches. It refers to the idea that thinking occurs (is situated) in social and physical contexts. In other words, knowledge is embedded in, and connected to, the context in which the knowledge developed

Social constructivism in the broader constructivist context

A social constructivist approach emphasizes the social contexts of learning and the idea that knowledge is mutually built and constructed. Involvement with others creates opportunities for students to evaluate and refine their understanding as they are exposed to the thinking of others and as they participate in creating shared understanding. In this way, experiences in social contexts provide an important mechanism for the development of students’ thinking.