Social Constructivism in Education

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According to the theory of social constructivism, social worlds develop out of individuals’ interactions with

their culture and society. Knowledge evolves through the process of social negotiation and evaluation of

the viability of individual understanding. Basically, every conversation or encounter between two or more

people presents an opportunity for new knowledge to be obtained, or present knowledge expanded. The

5.exchange of ideas that goes along with human contact is at play here.

In order to apply social constructivism theories in the education arena, teachers and school leaders need to

shift and reshape their perspectives. Both must move from being “people who teach” to being “facilitators of

learning”. A good constructivist teacher is one who questions students’ answers, without regard to whether

they are right or wrong, to make sure the student has a good grasp of the concept. Additionally, instructors

10.should have their students explain the answers they give and not allow students to use words or equations

without explanations. They should also encourage students to reflect on their answers.

Social constructivism teaches that all knowledge develops as a result of social interaction and language

use, and is therefore a shared, rather than an individual, experience. Knowledge is additionally not a result

of observing the world. It results from many social processes and interactions. We therefore find that

15.constructivist learning attaches as much meaning to the process of learning as it does to the acquisition of

new knowledge. In other words, the journey is just as important as the destination.

The process of learning requires that the learner actively participates in creative activities and self-

organization. Teachers should allow their students to come up with their own questions, make their own

theories, and test them for viability. Moreover, those who practice constructivist theory find that imbalance

20.facilitates teaching and learning, in the sense that contradictions between the learner’s current

understanding and experiences create an imbalance which leads the learner to inquire into his or her own

beliefs and then try out new ideas. Instructors should therefore encourage errors resulting from the

learners’ ideas, instead of minimizing or avoiding them.

Students should also be challenged by their instructors to perform open-ended investigations, working to

25.solve problems with realistic and meaningful contexts. This activity enables the learner to explore and

come up with either supporting or conflicting possibilities. Contradictions need to be investigated, clarified,

and discussed.

Through the process of reflecting on the collected data, learning is given a push. A good example of

allowing reflection is through journal writing, which usually facilitates reflective thoughts.

30.Dialogue within a community stimulates new ideas. All school stakeholders should view the classroom as

a community for discussion and exchange of ideas. Students in the classroom are responsible for the

defense, proof, justification and communication of their ideas to the community. These ideas can only be

accepted as truth if they can make sense to the community. If they do, they become shared knowledge. In

summary, learning occurs not through hearing or seeing, but primarily through interpretation. Interpretation

35.is shaped by what’s already known and is further developed through discussion.

Adapted from: “Social Constructivism in Education”, by Matthew Lynch (November 19, 2016)

Source: https://www.theedadvocate.org/social-constructivism-in-education/