Construct What?? (5 Things a Constructivist Teacher Needs to Know)

Sparking a Constructivist Classroom

Knowing the book definition of constructivism and being able to summarize it isn’t the same as understanding it.  Just like in our classrooms, confusion ensues from a lack of internalization and understanding of not only the big idea, but the parts of that idea as well.  We as teachers need to construct our learning with the big idea of constructivism at the center but with an analysis of the parts of this approach.  Once we can conceptualize this step, we have taken a major step in the direction of conquering our understanding or misunderstanding.  The next step is putting our knowledge into action.  Again, just as our students need process learning, so do we as teachers.  Process learning is exactly what it sounds like, putting the process to work in a relevant real world situation.  For teachers, the relevant real world situation is our classrooms.  By using the approach ourselves to deepen our knowledge and understanding, we are experiencing first hand what our students will expected to do when we shift our classroom climate and management to a constructivist approach.  Here are five things a teacher can do to help them learn and transition from the traditional approach to the constructivist approach in a classroom.

1. Be prepared to be patient.  This approach isn’t going to get you immediate and testable results very often. You have to follow the process and allow the time necessary for the student who is at the center of the focus to construct their own knowledge at their own pace.  Because constructivist theories rely on previous knowledge and experience of the student for learning, we only have two choices…allow them time to tap those experiences or help them create new experiences in the event they have no previous interactions with the material.  Teachers and administrators will have to delay their gratification as the process comes to fruition.  Of course as students learn to think at this level, things will move along quicker but never as fast as sit, get, regurgitate, and forget does.  Then again, this patience pays off because students actually learn something they will remember.
2. Be mentally awake.  You have to be on your toes and be able to adjust on the fly.  Pre-assessments will only tell you so much.  As you allow lessons to unfold for the student, there will be variables outside your control. Be ready and willing to work with the students in any setting you create for them.  You will still be teaching to whatever standards your district requires with your curriculum.  At times you will have to be spontaneous and creative to help it stick.
3. Know and understand your big idea and all its parts.  It doesn’t hurt for you to use the same analysis you will expect your students to use.  While you will be allowing students to seek and understand information on their own terms, you still need to be the expert who can guide them where they need to go rather than give them the answers.  Remember we want our students to think critically.  This only happens if you allow them to do so.  Often times students will get frustrated if a teacher doesn’t just give them the answer.  Most students don’t have the grit or the stamina to make multiple unsuccessful attempts before they pressure you for the answer.  You aren’t an encyclopedia, you are a teacher.  You don’t disseminate information anymore; you assist in its acquisition and assimilation.
4. Be fearless.  You have nothing to fear here.  As stated earlier, learning can be messy.  The root of our fear as teachers is a lack of effectiveness of our strategies.  There will be no lack here.  If it isn’t working one way, give it another shot from a different angle.  Students can smell fear!  If you show confidence in the process of learning, students will act accordingly.  Additionally if you show the the relevance of what it is they are doing, they will be more engaged.  In turn as they realize ownership in their newly constructed learning, they will value it and you all the more.
5. Be humble.  You shouldn’t be the center of this approach, the student should.  Show humility in your approach to the students and they will return kindness.  There is no suggestion of yielding to disrespect or anything of the like.  Put a student in their place if need be, but also understand that each student has completely different experiences from the next and they are all looking through individual filters at the new material in front of them and trying to process and assimilate it.  Different students will react to this challenge in different ways.  Be ready to help them sift through these feelings to get to the goal!  Love, respect, and humility will trump anything that comes your way from a student.

Below is a chart from Melissa Taylor’s imaginesoup.net that can be helpful in better understanding categorical shifts that are necessary for implementation in a classroom.  The traditional approach to teaching is on the left.  See how you compare on the chart.  This chart is basic in its explanations, but it is a great place to start.  Next time we will continue the discussion with a deeper look at classroom installation and check out some bumps in the road.