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Constructivism: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

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DOI: 10.4172/2151-6200.1000200

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Arts and

Journal
Arts and Social Sciences Journal Dagar and Yadav, Arts Social Sci J 2016, 7:4
DOI: 10.4172/2151-6200.1000200
ISSN: 2151-6200

Research Article Open Access

Constructivism: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

Dagar V * and Yadav A
Department of Education, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh District, Pali, India
*Corresponding author: Dagar V, Department of Education, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh District, Pali, India, Tel: 01285249401; E-mail:
dagarvishal99@gmail.com
Received date: June 08, 2016; Accepted date: July 01, 2016; Published date: July 07, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Dagar V, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

The present paper is a conceptual paper focusing on the need and ways of adopting constructivism in the
teaching and learning process. Our present education system emphasizes on preparing students for highly
competitive standardized tests and overlooks the importance of fostering critical thinking skills in our students. The
conventional teacher centric teaching learning process emphasizing on memorization is usually adopted across
length and breadth of Indian schools. This paper sketches the need to redefine education to include more critical
thinking by adopting constructivist pedagogy. The paper also proposes the important aspects such as integration of
social and emotional learning in learning process for adoption of constructivism in classrooms, besides this it also
outlines the learning strategies and learning design required for successful implementation of constructivism in
teaching learning process.

Keywords: Constructivism; Zone of proximal development; Social learning style and background knowledge fits well with the teaching
and emotional learning material. If the teaching style closely matches the students preferred
style of acquiring knowledge, learning becomes easier and more
Introduction natural, results improve and learning time is reduced. In few words,
traditional teaching material and strategies generally tend to benefit
Education involves the process of the development and learning of some students more than others [2].
the child on multiple dimensions, facilitated by the teacher, who is
guided by a curriculum. Effective education is a process where the The NCF, also suggests adopting critical pedagogy because students
teacher, children and the schools involved and participated actively [1]. are not just young people for whom adults should devise solutions.
However our present education system emphasizes on preparing They are critical observers of their own conditions and needs and
students for tests and don’t foster deep learning and is in the midst of a should be participants in discussion and problem-solving related to
crisis of quality-starting from primary schools to universities, the their education and future opportunities. Critical pedagogy provides
dominant view is that our students are not learning as much as they an opportunity to reflect critically on issues in terms of their political,
ideally should and what is more worrisome is that rote learning and social, economic and moral aspects.
memorization seems to be the dominant mode at all levels. Traditional The improvement in learning outcomes is possible by shifting the
teaching approach (lecture method) commonly adopted by teachers in focus of teaching learning process on concept development and deep
Indian schools involves coverage of the context and rote memorization understanding. Till now, most of the focus has been to ensure access to
on the part of the students and does not involve students in creative education. Therefore, a question arises on the philosophical
thinking and participation in the creative part of activities. Most of the underpinnings of the long dominant pretest-teach-post teach model of
time, during teaching learning process, instruction remains unilateral education. Despite completing all their tests, too many students simply
which is considered to be an orthodox activity. The upcoming trends in are not learning [3].
education changed the present scenario and adopted the constructivist
approach which is moral and more focused on innovative activities There arises a need to adopt a new pedagogy which encourages the
and knowledge acquisition and therefore, the academic results of the learner to construct a sense of her own self, the development of her
students of constructivist classrooms are better than traditional autonomy, alongside her progress within the group for interpersonal
classrooms. It was found that constructivist instructed students had growth. Pedagogy is a vehicle of articulating learning goals and
higher scores than the students who were exposed to conventional identifying the forms of activities that promote development toward
method of teaching. The problem lies in the learning environment in a those goals. Constructivist pedagogy is one such approach where
conventional classrooms, the classroom environment is teacher activities are proposed to students that are meaningful for them and
centered which makes learning process boring for less competent the learner reflects, searches, uses her capacity for taking initiatives and
students. Student’s attention wanes frequently and they are not able to for being creative. Constructivist pedagogy in which activity
retain the information for long time period and are often caught supplements lecture, learners are provided opportunities to construct
daydreaming, talking and pestering other students. The individual their own understanding on the basis of an interaction between what
differences existing between learners, their background knowledge and they already know.
learning styles are often ignored in the conventional classrooms. The need for constructivist approach arises when behaviorism fall
Present educational system provide a unique and standardized short of producing positive effects within the complex context of the
teaching material to all learners which tend to benefit to those whose classroom and left teachers feeling shortchanged and cheated by a

Arts Social Sci J Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000200

ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ an open access journal
Citation: Dagar V, Yadav A (2016) Constructivism: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Arts Social Sci J 7: 200. doi:
10.4172/2151-6200.1000200

Page 2 of 4

system that placed the guilt for students' failure to learn in their hands. "The doctrine itself holds that 'language users must individually
Following the legacy of behaviorism, constructivism has been construct the meaning of words, phrases, sentences and texts."
welcomed as a theory of knowing that more fully explains the
"Constructivists allege that it is we who constitute or construct, on
complexity of the teaching-learning process [4].
the basis of our theorizing or experience, the allegedly unobservable
items postulated in our theories."
Need of constructivism
"The central principles of this approach are that learners can only
The present article concentrates on providing an alternative make sense of new situations in terms of their existing understanding.
pedagogy based on the principles of constructivism theory given by Learning involves an active process in which learners construct
Piaget [5], Vygotsky [6] and other theoreticians including meaning by linking new ideas with their existing knowledge" [4].
psychologists and sociologists. If we accept constructivist theory, then
we have to give up platonic and all subsequent realistic views of
epistemology. We have to recognize that there is no such thing as
Social Constructivism
knowledge “out there”, independent of the knower but only knowledge The most important aspect on which constructivism focuses is
we construct for ourselves as we learn is the true knowledge. If we knowledge construction. Knowledge construction is viewed differently
believe that knowledge consists of learning about the real world “out by different philosophers and psychologists. Jean Piaget’s view is
there”, then the power of organizing and presenting the knowledge is constructivist, because he firmly believed that knowledge acquisition is
passed on to the teacher who ultimately passes this on to the learner. In a process of continuous self-construction. Children acquire knowledge
the process of disseminating knowledge to learners the teacher may through their actions and passes through stages of assimilation,
use activities and opportunities to experiment but here the teacher is accommodation and equilibrium in the process of knowledge
helping the learner to understand the world but don’t ask the learner to construction. The father of social constructivism, Vygotsky [6] views
construct his/her own world. the origin of knowledge construction as being the social intersection of
The understanding of the difference between the world “out there” people, interactions that involve sharing, comparing and debating
and the students own world helps a teacher to decide the type of among learners and mentors. Through a highly interactive process, the
pedagogy he will follow to create a constructivist classroom. When the social milieu of learning is accorded center stage and learners both
teacher structures situations for his/her students then she is restricting refine their own meanings and help others find meaning. In this way
the learners to carry out their own mental actions. These two worlds, knowledge is mutually built. This view is a direct reflection of
the world “out there” and “own world” puts the teacher in a dilemma of Vygotsky’s [6] sociocultural theory of learning, which accentuates the
presenting the knowledge or to help students to construct their own supportive guidance of mentors as they enable the apprentice learner
knowledge. Teacher opting for the second option intensifies her to achieve successively more complex skill, understanding, and
problem because the curriculum designed by the experts, classrooms ultimately independent competence [9]. Vygotsky [6] asserted that
environment created and followed in a school, instructional design knowledge can’t be isolated from social and cultural context. He argues
adopted by a teacher and learning habits of the students’ needs a major that all higher mental functions are social in origin and are embedded
redesigning by the teacher. The theories of learning, strategies of in the context of sociocultural setting. In social constructivist model,
teaching and learning and the pedagogies are the guiding principles in the knowledge is constructed through interaction between teacher and
framing an instructional design. The instructional design following student. The role of teacher in social constructivist approach shifts
constructivist ideology avoids directing a pupil towards a solution to from the sole dispenser of knowledge to motivator, guide and resource
the problem rather it encourages self-conceptualization of the solution. person. Constructivism emphasizes on learner centered, learner
There is a need to develop a learning design using constructivist directed and collaborative style of teaching learning process in which
learning strategies which follows the principles of social constructivism learning is supported by teacher scaffolding and authentic tasks.
and also aims at developing social and emotional skills in students by
using social constructivism in classrooms. Elias et al. [7] defined SEL Constructivist Learning Strategies
as the process of acquiring core competencies to recognize and manage
The constructivist learning strategies can be developed using
emotions, set and achieve positive goals, appreciate the perspectives of
principles of social constructivism to improve academic achievement,
others, establish and maintain positive relationships, make responsible
high order thinking skills and social and emotional skills of the
decisions, and handle interpersonal situations constructively. The
students. The constructivist environment in a classroom can be created
proximal goals of SEL programs are to foster the development of five
by adopting the following:
interrelated sets of cognitive, affective, and behavioral competencies:
self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, Provide experience with the knowledge construction process
and responsible decision making [8].
The teacher presents a topic to the learners and guides them to
explore the topic through experimentation. The learners are
Definitions for constructivism in education are as follows encouraged to frame a research question and teacher helps them to
"It is assumed that learners have to construct their own knowledge answer the research question framed by them through scaffolding.
individually and collectively. Each learner has a tool kit of concepts and Experience in and appreciation for multiple perspectives
skills with which he or she must construct knowledge to solve
problems presented by the environment. The role of the community, All learners are distinct from each other in their way of thinking
other learners and teacher is to provide the setting, pose the challenges, and so the need arises to look at a problem from multiple perspectives
and offer the support that will encourage mathematical construction." and provide the opportunities to learners to experiment and discuss
their alternative ways of thinking. Here, the students are encouraged to

Arts Social Sci J Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000200

ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ an open access journal
Citation: Dagar V, Yadav A (2016) Constructivism: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Arts Social Sci J 7: 200. doi:
10.4172/2151-6200.1000200

Page 3 of 4

work in groups. Finally, all the groups can share their opinions on the to content knowledge development. Scaffolding comes to the rescue of
topic with each other. teachers who want to design activities to link future actions with the
present and help learners in development of content knowledge by
Provide social and emotional learning
themselves [10]. Vygotsky [6] also talks about zone of proximal
The social and emotional aspects of learning will be taught to the development. He developed concept of zone as an alternative to static,
students in an integrated manner. The five aspects of social and individual testing, namely IQ testing. He asserted on assessment of
emotional learning which could be covered in the teaching are as mental functions through collaborative activities and not independent
follows: self-awareness, managing feelings, motivation, empathy and and isolated activities.
social skills.
Constructivism, an epistemological view of knowledge acquisition
Use multiple modes of representation emphasizes on four aspects: 1) knowledge construction rather than
knowledge transmission and the recording of information conveyed by
The multiple modes of representation also assist the goal of
others, 2) new learning builds on prior knowledge, 3) learning is
experiencing multiple perspectives. Use of multiple media to enrich the
enhanced by social interaction and 4) meaningful learning develops
learning environment provides the learners to view the topic being
through authentic tasks. The role of the learner is conceived as one of
discussed in the class from multiple dimensions.
building and transforming knowledge [9]. Effective constructivist
The teacher should prepare a list of media available and supporting pedagogy should be based on the following seven principles as these
the topic. The teacher should also decide the use of media in appear to be most common across studies. First, the emphasis is not on
supporting the authentic nature of the task. memorizing and reproducing knowledge, but not on using and
transforming it. Second, acquiring and using knowledge are not
A combination of the following learning strategies can be used by
separate phases; rather, knowledge is learned by using it. Third,
the teachers to create constructivist learning environment
knowledge is used especially to solve problems. Fourth, stimulating
• Use of multimedia/teaching aids students thinking activities and enhancing their metacognitive and
• Scaffolding self-regulative skills are embedded in the study of content knowledge.
• Case studies Fifth, social interaction has a central role in the learning process. Sixth,
• Role playing assessment of learning is embedded in the learning process. Seventh,
students themselves must be involved in the assessment of their
• Story telling
learning. The learning outcomes of a constructivist classroom are
• Group discussions/Group activities (reciprocal Learning). divided into subject-based, personal transferable, and generic
• Probing questions academic outcomes. The learning outcomes measured by traditional
• Project based learning examination questions belong to the first category i.e., subject-based
• Use of learning strategies for social and emotional learning of outcomes. These are the learning outcomes usually assessed in
students. university courses. However, the personal transferable outcomes, such
as independent work, cooperation and communication skills, and
The teacher can follow the under mentioned learning design while using information, as well as the generic academic outcomes, such as
conducting group work or in general thinking critically and synthesizing ideas and information, are learning
Situation: A situation will be presented to the students to work outcomes that are supposed to be produced along with the subject-
upon. based outcomes. However, traditional instruction does not pay much
attention to the latter two. It was reported that the students in the
Bridge: The teacher tries to know the existing knowledge level of the constructivist group described their learning in terms of the personal
students and tries to find out the gap in the existing level and the level transferable skills and the generic academic outcomes, while the
where they should reach at the end of discussion. This is carried out students in the control group (traditional classroom) talked mainly
with the help of suitable questions and activities. about the subject-based learning outcomes. The subject-based
Grouping: The students are then divided into groups to explore the outcomes were roughly equal in both groups, but the transferable and
problem presented in their own perspective. Here the students of generic academic outcomes were reported more often by the
varying perspectives will be included in a group. constructivist group students. However, applying constructivist
principles in teaching is not an easy task; it requires strong knowledge
Questions: The teacher may adopt the strategy of probing questions base in the subject matter domain and teachers need knowledge about
to assist them move towards their goal. the processes of learning.
Exhibit: The students are expected to exhibit or explain their
understandings regarding the topic to other students. Constructivist Classroom
Reflections: Students present their reflections on the entire process Palinscar [11,12] quoted the arguments of Damon [13] who
of building understanding of the topic. suggested that development of learning requires giving up of current
understanding of a concept to reach a new perspective and this might
Constructivism: Zone of Proximal Development, be attained through interaction with peers. On the other hand,
Principles and Learning Outcomes learning that doesn’t require a transformation of perspective but is
characterized as acquiring a new skill might be best attained by
Teachers usually focus on basic literacy routines (reading fluency, working with skillful partners such as adults. The guidance provided by
note taking structures), skills and test preparation due to the use of the adult is called scaffolding which is required to help a learner to pass
standardized testing to measure learning outcomes. This may the zone of proximal development. Zone of proximal development is
encourage providing high support to learners and minimize attention

Arts Social Sci J Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000200

ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ an open access journal
Citation: Dagar V, Yadav A (2016) Constructivism: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Arts Social Sci J 7: 200. doi:
10.4172/2151-6200.1000200

Page 4 of 4

the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by theoretical, practical and self-regulative knowledge. However, in a
independent problem solving and the level of potential development as traditional type of curriculum these different types of knowledge have
determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in been treated separately. One of the most important challenges to
collaboration with more capable peers. The common conception of the pedagogy is developing curricula and teaching methods so that true
zone of proximal development presupposes an interaction between a integration of formal, theoretical knowledge and more informal,
more competent person and a less competent person on a task, such practical, and self-regulative knowledge may be achieved. The aspect of
that the less competent person becomes independently proficient at assessment cannot be left untouched while talking of constructivism as
what was initially a jointly accomplished task. The common conception constructivist learning requires an entirely different approach to
of the zone of proximal development supports or inspires a vision of assessment, an approach that is qualitative in nature. Authentic
educational perfection, in which the insightful (or lucky) teacher is assessment based on real-life tasks and performance assessment
able to help a child master, effortlessly and joyfully [14]. requiring students to complete certain learning assignments represent
this type of assessment. The emphasis is on students' learning process
A constructivist classroom is identified by the percentage of the
and on their meaning making as much as (or even more than) on the
time spent on student centered activities and it should be dominated
final product.
by collaborative learning style. The activity structures studied by
Forman et al. indicated that 70% of the class time was spent on student
centered activities (155 devoted to study presentations and 55% References
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ISSN:2151-6200 ASSJ an open access journal

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