Running head: CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING

The Constructivist Approach to Teaching

In the Language Arts Middle School Classroom
Trisha King
University of Northern Colorado

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Introduction

Many educators enter the field of education to inspire students with the love of learning,
and to guide students to become life long learners. Creating a classroom where students want to
learn, and to leave the classroom the following year earning for more knowledge in that
particular subject is not an easy feat for an educator to accomplish. Moreover, it can take several
years for the educator to hone their pedagogical skills to create life long learners. In order to
accomplish this an educator will need to adjust their pedagogical lens throughout their career.
However, many educators will find themselves in their comfort zone because their instructional
methods have worked in the past, and it is time consuming to alter instructional lenses.
Therefore, the objective of the Constructivist Teaching Lens website is to aid educators that teach
middle school Language Arts to encourage these educators to switch up their pedagogical lenses
to constructivist theory practices.
The websites homepage offers viewers an understanding of the differences between a
traditional classroom milieu and a constructivist classroom milieu. Additionally, the site offers
the why aspect for an educator to switch up teaching lenses, and why constructivist classrooms
work. The second tab of the website offers educators a lens into my personal classroom
practices with numerous student examples that range in three constructivist-teaching applications
that include: inquiry teaching, cooperative learning, discussions, and debates. The examples
were developed from researched practices in constructivism, yet are molded to fit within my
classroom and teaching style; which, is a blend of all four. Finally, the last tab offers extension
pieces from my research for educators that want further information as well as the sites big
picture. It is the hope of this website to inspire and encourage other educators to employ
constructivist practices more often with current and future generations of students in order to

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provide these students with learning experiences that will influence and encourage them to be
life long learners.
The Constructivist Teaching Lens Website and Theory/Research
The Constructivist Teaching Lens website was influenced by theory as well as a current
and influential educational research. However, the website also demonstrates a personal design
that enthralls the big idea of constructivist theory. A constructivist classroom allows educative
experiences to learners that will encourages students to take risks, be willing to fail and employ
grit, and to use peers and the teacher as collaborators to improve their learning. In turn this
ultimately establishes to fellow educators the importance of becoming a reflective teacher to
demonstrate that learning is a process, and we must be willing to step out of our own personal
comfort zones especially if we ask students to do the same. In the article Implementing a
Research-Based Model of Cooperative Learning (2005) Siegels research implies the
importance of an educator constructing his or her own definition of cooperative learning as well
as allowing students to help integrate those decisions. Hence, I find it vital to adapt cooperative
learning structures with my students to create engagement as well as encourage them to be life
long learners. Thus, the student examples that are provided on the site demonstrate constructivist
practices that encourage students to peruse and extend their learning past the classroom.
According to Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (2012) emphasizes that,
The most straightforward recommendations (of constructivism theory) are to involve students
actively in their learning and to provide experiences that challenge their thinking and force them
to rearrange their beliefs (Schunk, p. 235, 2012). Hence, through the website as well as the
students examples educators will discover the importance of creating an environment where
students take on the onus of their learning through constructivist opportunities. Hence, the

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student examples that are provided represent four types of constructivism applications that were
recommended in Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (2012); which include the
following: cooperative learning, inquiry based learning, discussions, and debates. Many of the
student examples that are found on the site blend the four applications together because of how
my classroom functions with allowing students to have opportunities to do all within one task
that I assign. Ultimately, this is beneficial for students to expand on their learning experiences,
and allows them to reflect as well as process the learning thoroughly.
The first few student examples revolve around the idea of cooperative learning with a
blend of other applications of constructivist learning opportunities. The idea of cooperative
learning allows students to work collaboratively on a task in order to construct new learning.
Furthermore, students are taught how to collaborate with peers and teachers which incorporates
inquiry and discussion. Through the student examples this is demonstrated when my students
utilized the jigsaw method for a nonfiction-reading task, and the student groups were formed
using partners. I had students pick a season out of a box in order to determine what sections of
the article they were required to read as well as to determine partners. The students were paired
with an opposing season, and then the partners had to create a product together that answered
specific questions that could not be done individually, yet allowed them to explore. In the article
titled, The Structural Approach to Cooperative Learning (1989) states, The structural
approach to cooperative learning is based on the creation, analysis, and systematic application of
structures, or content-free ways of organizing social interaction in the classroom (Kagan, p. 12,
1989). Ultimately, this supports the cooperative learning experiences that are demonstrated on
the site because students were prescribed a set of behaviors, were able to collaborate on a
problem, and still be able to express innovation. Furthermore, students were allowed to reflect

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and provide feedback to peers by sharing their learning through an online discussion board.
Undoubtedly, students were able to cooperate together and were able to discuss, be inquisitive,
and take a risk in creating something new through this task.
The other student examples represent inquiry-based learning; nevertheless still a blend of
cooperative and discussions/debates. In these examples students were encouraged to ask
questions of the reading The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells as well as create a final product
based on a research question that related to the short story The Monkeys Paw by W.W. Jacobs.
These examples tie into the article Let's Switch Questioning Around (2015) as well as the book
Authentic learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry (2014) because the
two authors of these pieces state the importance of allowing students to be inquisitive and to
learn how to develop questioning skills as well as being able to utilize one anothers questions to
progress further exploration. The students were taught how to ask questions with academic
language as well as what questions promote discussion. Again, it is important to encourage
students to be inquisitive and to explore beyond the big ideas and essential questions that are
posed by the teacher. In evaluating my students work I was energized to see that their questions
that were posed as well as their responses illustrated thoughtfulness as well as it guided my
instruction to challenge and reinforce ideas. Ultimately, by training my students to create
authentic questions and learn how to provide one another feedback was powerful because I was
able to decipher student groups for differentiation and provide further exploration and
scaffolding opportunities for learners versus when I provided a set of questions for students to
work on.
The final student examples revolve around the idea of discussions and debates. Within
my classroom I try to train my students to be effective in their communication skills both

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verbally and written; thus, I believe it to be imperative to utilize discussions and debates in my
classroom. Furthermore, discussions and debates as a learning tool teaches students how to be
diplomatic, be active listeners, be proactive discussion makers, as well as they learn how to
provide reliable and creditable sources to inform others of their opinions. In particular, the
teacher must create a milieu where students are made to feel safe to state their opinions as well as
be encouraged to develop their ideas. In the article titled Meaningful learning in the
cooperative classroom (2015) Sharan states the following, the teacher encourages expression
of students own ideas, builds upon information students provide and experiences they have had,
and guides students to increasingly sophisticated levels of understanding (Sharan, 2015, p. 85).
This is imperative for the educator to consider when using discussions and debates as a tool to
teach students to be expressive because students must be trained in how to express themselves,
and be articulate about their opinions. In addition teaching students how to discuss ideas and
engage in debates the educator must teach what effective collaboration looks like which is
imperative for all students to be successful.
Undoubtedly, by using a blend of all four applications in the middle school Language
Arts classroom students are encouraged to be effective communicators and collaborators not only
through writing but verbally as well. Furthermore, constructivist practices fuels an organic
learning experience for students because they are not sitting in a classroom receiving mundane
lectures from their teacher; in fact, the teacher invites students to construct the learning alongside
them. Finally, this pedagogy entices 21st learners to learn how to become problem solvers,
pioneers, demonstrate empathy, be effective collaborators, utilize inquiry, and to be active
participants in their learning; therefore, educators should change their pedagogical lens to the
constructivist teaching lens.

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References

Kagan, S. (1989). The structural approach to cooperative learning. Alexandria: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Pahomov, L. (2014). Authentic learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry.
Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.
Tovani, C. (2015). Let's switch questioning around. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Schunk, D. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Sharan, Y. (2015). Meaningful learning in the cooperative classroom. Education 3-13, 43(1), 83.
Siegel, C. (2005). Implementing a research-based model of cooperative learning. The Journal of
Educational Research, 98(6), 339-349.