Path to Constructivism

I want constructivist teaching and learning in my classroom. I started my journey as an educator because our children deserve more. More context, more real world application, experiences, more voice for students in their learning. The learning module of constructivism in action exhibited what I want to aim for in my education practice. This is where learning environments are authentic, approaches are focused on solving real world problems where learners have control in their learning, instructional goals and objectives. 

The journey to constructivism provides numerous benefits but it will be difficult. The approach is different from what we are used to and from what others are currently doing. To be a constructivist, you have to undergo a culture change. It is not easy to change a culture in which you have to change the beliefs, norms and practices of teaching and learning. The learners will now be at the center that drives their own learning while the teachers act as guide and facilitators. Instead of being the source of information, teachers will provide tools and environment for learning.

I have very limited teaching experience specially for constructivism but being part of this course showed me how learners can benefit from constructivism. I analyze how constructivist I am as I homeschool my two children. By using the learning cycle model of engagement, exploration, explanation, extension and evaluation, I gauge our week’s activities. I used engagement, exploration and explanation activities but fell short with the last two activities. My learners decided our theme for the week and the activities they love to do. They are both involved in the process that resulted in active engagement. I can see excitement in their faces as they find out what activities we will do for the day. Since we chose fairy tales as our theme for the week’s lesson, we utilized their favorite fairy tales and incorporated the lessons for the day. In our Filipino learning, I tapped their knowledge in counting in English to learn counting in Filipino.  For each lesson, I will allot a time to explain the activity and the concepts we learned. However, I need to add more consistent extension and evaluation activities. These two are equally important activities as extension activities will show how students apply or transfer their new knowledge or skills in other contexts while a consistently given evaluation activity will exhibit how well the students understand the topic.   

With this interpretation, I know I am on my way to practicing constructivism. It may be a long way for me but I am fully embracing the culture change. I am starting with my children but in the not so far future, I want my classrooms to be a reflection of constructivism. I envision myself sharing to my other parents, teachers and learners the benefits of constructivism by living the culture and showing the outcomes for the learners. It is through practice of constructivist teaching and learning I can demonstrate that it is all worth the journey and change.