The
design of Figure 3 also allows pupils to interact with one another, which means
that Vygotsky’s ideas and views of constructivism are implemented and embedded
within the game and resource itself. This social aspect of learning is also
discussed in Clements and Battista’s report, where they state that the role of
a constructivist classroom and teacher within it is to ‘encourage pupils to
exchange points of view,
rather
than reinforce correct answers and correct wrong ones’, meaning that pupils can
learn from each other and share new ideas and experiences as Piaget’s ideas
suggest that every pupil is individual and have very distinctive and specific
ways of perceiving and conceiving (Fosnot 1996).
One resource from Mathsphere shown
in Figure 1 can be used as an example of how learning can be put into context
within the classroom, whilst at the same time children are learning about
daily, real life activities. Teaching children about money, with illustrations
showing this in context. In terms of Piaget’s ideas he probably would suggest
to take it one step further to use actual money, rather than working from a 2D
worksheet. As when Piaget’s and Montessori’s ideas are compared, one thing they
had in common was the belief that if you were to read
a class a book about farm animals they both agree that you should then take
your class to a farm so they can see, smell, and touch these animals. This idea
is also discussed by Fosnot the idea that constructivist teachers use raw data
and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive and physical
materials.
When analysing and looking at the
disadvantages of this resource and where it doesn’t fit with constructivist
approaches, is the firstly the social isolation aspect. The resource doesn’t
really allow for group work or discussions and could be viewed as repetitive
and unengaging. Another aspect which is missing is imagination and freedom of
thinking, as the worksheet really only allows for one way of working and only
the correct answers. This way of working is discussed by Grennan where she
states that constructivism should ’encourage pupils to think’ (Grennan, 1994)
rather than to just be able to compute with paper and pencil. As this written
aspect interfered with pupil’s freedom to think and to remember addition and
subtraction of numbers. This resource, similar to figure 2, introduces
knowledge which children are already aware of and are most likely to have seen
and responded to outside the classroom, it brings it into a mathematical
learning context which they are therefore more likely to engage with. Children potentially learn more when learning in
context rather than in the classroom, therefore context needs to be brought
into the classroom for learning to be more beneficial and create long term
understanding.
Beginning
to look at constructivism and design within a specific subject Figure 2 looks
at KS1 Maths Resources from Twinkl, which is an online educational publishing house, producing teaching and educational materials. Founder of Twinkl
Jonathan Seaton discusses in a recent article that Twinkl is ‘empowering a new
way of teaching’ (Insider Media 2018). The resources recognise that children of
the future need to have the ability to problem solve, think creatively and
pattern spot.
Constructivist
theories would suggest that these resources are effective as they have a main
focus on jobs and careers that children will be able to identify with and
recognise. Which is an aspect that Grennan discusses in her book that children
don’t usually connect the information they receive in school to interpretations
of the world around them, (Grennan 1993), however this piece shows how
children’s current knowledge can be used to make sense of new knowledge, which
is essentially the underlying idea of constructivism that ‘Knowledge is
constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment
(David 2014).
A criticism of the
piece is that it doesn’t encourage social interaction and learning, it is
designed more for individual learning, which contradicts Vygotsky’s social
learning theory and the idea of the ‘classroom as a mini society and a
community of learners engaged with activity’ (Fosnot 1996). This style of
independent learning fits more into the Montessori teaching method that caters
for children by ‘adapting the curriculum to the taste of individual children’
(Hunt 1964). The sharing of and cooperation which is important to learning
comes from Paul Cobb’s idea of ‘taken as shared’ and the fact that ‘the mutual
compatibility in our use of words and language is the result of social
interaction’ (Fosnot 1996), therefore implying that children help each other
learn through sharing their different experiences.
Figure 4 shows a card game which helps children to learn different Maths concepts. Designed
by the Green Board Games. The game is
said to be ‘innovative and imaginative, and designed to bring people together,
increase knowledge, aid learning and also be great fun.’ All of those ideas are
all important aspects of constructivism. Beginning to look at the idea of how
games can help children to learn which is discussed by Clements and Battista
(2009) in their report of Constructivist
Learning and Teaching. Within this report they consider that games can be
used as a fundamental form of instruction, they also allow for students to
discuss or agree and disagree with one another. They also state their opinion
that games are proven to be effective within the classroom, especially when
older, maybe more old fashioned well known games are manipulated or modified,
for example a version of Old Maid where children try to make a sum of ten with
two cards. These ideas coincide with Prichard’s discussion (in Ways of Learning)
where he suggests ‘when learning is made up of authentic tasks, there is a
greater possibility of engagement’ (Pritchard, 2005), which also fits together
with the ideals of the resources discussed in Figure 1 and 2 of tactile and
active forms of learning. An important aspect of Constructivism is that
learning comes from real life situations and children’s environment around
them, more specifically and enriching outside of the classroom activities such
as taking attendance, voting, collecting money and writing letters.
Figure 4 is also an example discussed previously in the essay from Glaserfeld about
how the teacher’s role is to provide children with opportunities and incentives
to build up their knowledge and learning skills. Breaking down ideas further
discussed in Constructivist Learning and Teaching, firstly Clements suggests
that ‘Paper and pencil exercises cause social isolation, mechanical repetition
and dependence on the teacher’ (Clements 2009) and therefore ideas and tasks
need to be put in place to stop this from happening, therefore one idea is to
‘replace these tasks with games and situations in daily living’. Which is also
suggested in Grennan’s book, where she writes that ‘Constructivist teachers use
raw data and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive and physical
materials’ (Grennan 1994). The use of engaging and real materials, gives way to
children understanding and putting what they are learning into context, so that
they’re knowledge doesn’t just stop when they leave the classroom.
The
design of Figure 4 also allows pupils to interact with one another, which means
that Vygotsky’s ideas and views of constructivism are implemented and embedded
within the game and resource itself. This social aspect of learning is also
discussed in Clements and Battista’s report, where they state that the role of
a constructivist classroom and teacher within it is to ‘encourage pupils to
exchange points of view,
rather
than reinforce correct answers and correct wrong ones’, meaning that pupils can
learn from each other and share new ideas and experiences as Piaget’s ideas
suggest that every pupil is individual and have very distinctive and specific
ways of perceiving and conceiving (Fosnot 1996).
