Roles Of Constructivism In Education

Historical Review—Constructivism in Education As one of most important theories in social science, constructivism plays an important role especially in education. The main belief of constructivism is that people making sense of the world by interacting with the environment around them. Knowledge can be gained through people’s actively constructing their new experience with what they have already known (Ültanir, 2012). Since constructivism deals with the theory of knowledge, many educators and teachers apply the approach that aligned with constructivism into classrooms. Such as Montessori and Reggio Emilia educational approaches, which are popular in preschools and kindergartens. To better understand the role of constructivism in education, …show more content…
However, unlike Piaget, Vygotsky pay more attention to other factors around individuals, such as cultural tools and social context, and he indicates the interaction of intrapersonal and interpersonal (Jones & Brader-Araje, 2002). So, for Piaget, children construct knowledge through assimilation and accommodation, organizing and reorganizing; for Vygosky, individuals construct their knowledge through social interaction (Holzman, 2009). His social constructivism emphasizes on the influence of social collectivity on individuals’ cognitive development (Liu & Matthews, …show more content…
Constructivist teachers are seeking for way to help students construct and develop their own tacit understandings (Richardson, 1997). Like Montessori educational approach, which welcomes multi-age students to learning in a one classroom aligned with Vygotsky’s social constructivism. Students with different ages work together to form a zone of proximal development. Montessori (1967) believes that “The hands are the instruments of man 's intelligence…He constructs his mind step by step till it becomes possessed by memory, the power to understand, the power to think"