Prior to my formal studies in Elementary Education I was not aware of the many learning theories discussed within this course. Although, I knew exactly what I wanted to instill in my students and how I wanted to teach to them I was not aware that it closely related to a learning theory called Constructivism. I found all the learning theories to be not only relatable in some aspect or another but, significantly intriguing. However, I found that the learning theory, constructivism, seemed to be the one I related to the most. With that said, there were also some areas that I found were conversely different from my view and/or philosophy of teaching especially as it was contradictive of my beliefs. However, although the pendulum swings in many
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Constructivism is like an umbrella that covers a many fundamentally different meanings which depends on the underlying assumptions about the nature of the representations (Allen & Bickhard, 2011).Ultimately, all agree that constructivism is a way of building knowledge about self, school, everyday experiences, and society through reflection and meaning creation. However, there are some aspects of the theory that may conflict with a Christian view and/or way of instruction. As Christians we are taught that a person’s perspective is irrelevant when it comes to our faith in Jesus and the word of the Holy Bible. Conversely, constructivists believe that nothing is actually true as it depends on one’s perspective and/or experience. This is an example of the disconnect that would be obvious between the Christian side versus the constructivist side of the …show more content…
Both Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky although provide different perspectives of the philosophy are the most well-known constructivist philosophers. Piaget’s theory although initially unnoticed became a major influence in the field and study of human development. Piaget’s theory derives as stages of cognitive development. He proposed that children learn in different stages at different ages and each level is determined by how children view the world. (Schunk, 2012) However, many dispute this idea concluding that children as well as adults not only do not think in a stage typical manner, but, learn and therefore perceive things differently. Ultimately, he believed that learning developed through a contradiction of current beliefs and reconcile it with the new information. The idea that learning was developed through effects of the environment as well as social interaction was introduced by Vygotsky. Words both spoken and written in a social context, mediate meaning that helps lead to the construction of concepts and knowledge. (Hirtle, 1996). Vygotsky also proposed that speech is the first tool that children use and engage in collaborative thinking with others and aids in problem solving in daily social activity (Hirtle, 1996). All in all these philosopher’s theories continue to play an important role in teaching
Constructivism is like an umbrella that covers a many fundamentally different meanings which depends on the underlying assumptions about the nature of the representations (Allen & Bickhard, 2011).Ultimately, all agree that constructivism is a way of building knowledge about self, school, everyday experiences, and society through reflection and meaning creation. However, there are some aspects of the theory that may conflict with a Christian view and/or way of instruction. As Christians we are taught that a person’s perspective is irrelevant when it comes to our faith in Jesus and the word of the Holy Bible. Conversely, constructivists believe that nothing is actually true as it depends on one’s perspective and/or experience. This is an example of the disconnect that would be obvious between the Christian side versus the constructivist side of the …show more content…
Both Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky although provide different perspectives of the philosophy are the most well-known constructivist philosophers. Piaget’s theory although initially unnoticed became a major influence in the field and study of human development. Piaget’s theory derives as stages of cognitive development. He proposed that children learn in different stages at different ages and each level is determined by how children view the world. (Schunk, 2012) However, many dispute this idea concluding that children as well as adults not only do not think in a stage typical manner, but, learn and therefore perceive things differently. Ultimately, he believed that learning developed through a contradiction of current beliefs and reconcile it with the new information. The idea that learning was developed through effects of the environment as well as social interaction was introduced by Vygotsky. Words both spoken and written in a social context, mediate meaning that helps lead to the construction of concepts and knowledge. (Hirtle, 1996). Vygotsky also proposed that speech is the first tool that children use and engage in collaborative thinking with others and aids in problem solving in daily social activity (Hirtle, 1996). All in all these philosopher’s theories continue to play an important role in teaching