Constructivist Theory
In
this paper I will be discussing the constructivist learning theory with
particular reference to the works of John Dewey and his impact on the pedagogical theory. For the
purposes of this paper I will be using my own experience as a comparative
background to rationalise and demonstrate scenarios of Dewey’s theories. As my experience is in a business
training environment I will be considering scenarios in relation to Dewey’s
beliefs of progressive education particular to adults in the working
environment.
Dewey believed that
the outdated strict authoritarian or pre-ordained knowledge methodology of
education was overly concerned with delivering pre-defined knowledge and not
with understanding the student’s actual experiences. He believed in facilitating the student through overcoming inhibitions
and prejudices (Dewey 1934). His belief was
that as education is a social environment it should be conducted as a safe
unbiased environment allowing for each student to use their own experiences.
In adult education
and particularly in a business environment we can find that there can be a
de-motivating and even intimidating perspective from the students initially.
These can be preconceived notions from prior educational or even personal
experiences. This can also be in relation to entering a new environment and not
wanting to appear overzealous or critical of the current approaches the
business might have. It is important to the educator in the role of facilitator
to overcome these inhibitions. This can be achieved by the use of real world issues to make the topics applicable and allow the
students to question and learn outside of the classroom. Allowing for a problem
based learning scenario, or even giving one to one training where the educator is
there in a monitoring or sometimes guidance role can prove more beneficial to
the development of the student in these positions. This encourages the
development of social and interpersonal skills, creating an open learning
environment adaptive to the educational needs of the student.
Dewey
did not believe in knowledge as static and the learner as an empty vessel whose
job it is to absorb as much as possible of that predefined material. He argued that we need to build
curriculum around the impulses or instincts, as he referred to them, of the
learner. Dewey referred to the social instinct meaning
conversation and communication, the making instinct which refers to our
creative impulses, the investigation instinct in so much as experimenting and
watching to see what happens and finally the expressive impulse which relates
to the necessity of gaining a meaning from experience.
In
designing business training we would use a highly similar structure and
approach in reaching our training goal with the student. Like Dewey it would
begin with a social element starting with conversational training. This may
initially be a knowledge transfer, going against Dewey’s anti-authoritarian or pre-ordained knowledge approach, but it is important to give and
assure a base level of understanding before progressing in the training.
Although the communication element is still of vital importance, the student
must be encouraged to ask questions and assert themselves in the training to
assure the understanding and participation in the learning experience. Next we
would appeal to the making instinct allowing, after a transfer of base
knowledge, the student to physically participate giving the chance for hands on
experience. This would actually be coupled with the Investigation instinct as
the change for hands on experience and experimentation would be seen to go hand
in hand. Here we allow the student, under supervision, to now physically apply
themselves to scenarios whilst experimenting with other approaches so as to
better understand the reasoning behind the taught approach. This would lead to
a natural development to the final instinct, the investigation instinct, where
the student has been taught and given an opportunity to participate and
question leading them to an understanding of what they need to know and the
practical reason for why.
On the negative side we must consider a
few points of note. To begin with, students need a base of knowledge. We may
find that Adults are coming with a pre existing level of knowledge and experiences,
but if they have limited or no prior experience in a field or area how are they
supposed to construct new knowledge from old knowledge? Also the constructivist theory seems to work
under the assumption that all students have a level of experience or, if
sharing experiences, understand to the same level as other students. This as
mentioned is a consideration in standard business training as no assumption can
be made to the level of knowledge or even understanding an individual may have.
So we find ourselves in a scenario where as a educator me must have a knowledge
transfer stage to our training even if on occasion it may be that the student
already has prior experience of training in this area. This gives a much higher
chance that all students will be up to the same level upon leaving the
training.
Another consideration is What if the
student’s understandings are different to what was intended by the
educator? Standardized tests don't
measure understanding. The educator must evaluate differently for each student
and how does one evenly and fairly mark such an open area as understanding? If
a student is coming from a similar working environment, it is not a guarantee
that the approaches will be similar or even compatible. As much as it is
important to consider the input from a student a business must conform to their
standard operation procedures.
These considerations
aside we may also mention the somewhat indirect contribution that Dewey and his
work on experiential education (Dewey 1938) had on Project Based Learning (not
to be confused with problem based learning), which is broadly used in the
working environment. In this process students
form their own investigation of a problem in groups, which allows the students
to develop invaluable research skills. This encourages the students to work in their
groups or by themselves to come up with ideas or solutions. In these projects
we see students taking a problem and applying it to a real life situation. Project
Based Learning is an ideal example of
how to use ones experience to grow one’s own knowledge. In Project Based
Learning we can use the knowledge of a group and the individual group members
to develop each other. Also Project Based Learning provides an ideal
opportunity to overcome one of our aforementioned problems, in how we measure
the understanding of the student, as these classroom projects can be used to
assess the students skill level in the discussed area.
As an educator we can
clearly see the influence and even the application of Dewey’s constructivist
theories in our working environment. Although there are some negative aspects
for us to overcome we can see that even Dewey himself may have identified these
areas that lead to further work and research in the practical application of
his theories in constructivism. And although it may
give the potential for the student to enjoy learning it has to be
considered that in the working environment education is sometimes set with a
defined outcome and that memorizing facts and pre defined knowledge is on
occasion necessary in this area of education. Students are still encouraged to
have a better understanding and to learn to think more efficiently, which in
the long term is a skill that is most useful in the adult working environment.
But we must consider the combination of approaches to maximise the
effectiveness of this constructivist theory and bring it into practical usage.
Bibliography
Dewey, 1934, The need for a philosophy of education, Random House, New York.
Dewey, 1938, Experience and Education, Touchstone, New York.
Dewey, John., 1944,
‘Democracy and Education’, in ILTweb Publications, accessed 28 October
2009, from http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/dewey.html
Oregon Technology in Education Council, 2000, ‘Constructivism’,
in Learning Theories, accessed 16
October 2009, from http://otec.uoregon.edu/learning_theory.htm#Constructivism
0 comments: