SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivism is a theory that focuses on how people learn. People draw on their experiences to
construct their own understanding of the world around them. Jacqueline Grennan Brooks (as cited in
Macnish) states that “Constructivism, the study of learning, is about how we all make sense of our
world, and that really hasn’t changed.” It is essential for students to be encouraged to ask questions,
seek answers, problems solve and critically think for them to learn.

As teachers, our role is not just to “teach” the lesson but to assess our methods and help students
“construct their knowledge actively rather than just mechanically ingesting knowledge from the
teacher” (Education Broadcasting Corporation, 2004). The question of ‘how students learn’ is one
that will help challenge teachers and bring learning to the next level. In the three sequential lessons I
have paid close attention to constructivism and its five attributes, active, constructive, authentic,
cooperative and intentional. The following is how social constructivism informs the planning for
these lessons.

In the series of lessons, students are given the opportunity to manipulate and build on their prior
knowledge. Through creating mind maps and making analysis of artwork using previously attained
information to create new meanings and understandings which promotes active and constructive
learning. This is done more effectively through the use of ICT tools that give students instant access
to information and images, enabling them to carry out given tasks productively. Helping students to
reconcile what is learnt in the classroom to a real world context makes the learning authentic.
Through the lessons prepared students can begin to understand the purpose of portraiture art and
learn how it is relevant to its historical context while using to help of ICT tools to express their
creativity and understanding. In each lesson, a social activity is always included, this helps to
promote interaction and social competency, helping to make learning a cooperative one. Lastly with
use of ICT tools and the freedom given to students to express their creativity and gives them
meaningful learning through learner control.
 REFERENCES
Macnish, J. Exploring social constructivism: Information about social constructivism [Blog post].
Retrieved from https://socialconstructivismnda.weebly.com/resources-social-constructivism.html

Education Broadcasting Corporation. (2004). Concept to classroom: What is constructivism?.

Retrieved from https://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/