learning matters (nz)

This morning I was sitting next to parents with a young 4 month old baby. It's interesting to consider what is going through the mind of this young child. As he looks around I would imagine there is a mosaic of colours and lights that mean little to him. At the same time he is hearing a cacophony of sounds which are equally meaningless.

Gradually over time, the baby will see and hear similar things until they start to form regular patterns and memories. Certain shapes will become faces, certain faces will become his family. Other shapes become buildings. Gradually the baby's knowledge of the world grows.

This process of turning random bits of information into understanding about the world is learning. As the child experiences more of the world, he constructs his understanding of it. Hence the term constructivism. Constructivism is a theory of knowledge (or learning) that says our brains build their own understanding of the world ... partly by ourselves, partly through interacting with others.

Individual or cognitive constructivism places more emphasis on the individual building understanding by him or herself. Piaget is often associated with this theory. He talked of individuals expanding their understanding of the world around them through assimilation (absorbing more information that supports an individual's existing understanding) and accommodation (changing an individual's understanding due to information not fitting in with an individual's current understanding).

Social constructivism sees learning as more, though not exclusively, a shared experience. For example as we grow we learn the language of our community. This language shapes how we form our thoughts. Also talking to others challenges our thinking, hence the social aspect of learning.

An understanding of constructivism is essential to teachers ... primary and secondary. The process of learning continues as the baby grows to a toddler, a young child, a teenager, an adult. We continue to expand our understanding of the world around us. Sometimes taking on the understanding of others, sometimes challenging (deconstructing) it to build a new understanding.

Good teachers will be competent in three areas:

1. they will know their students well
   ... what they already know, how they learn, what motivates them
2. they will know their subject well
   ... what do students need to learn now to learn the next set of information later
   ... they are comfortable having students challenge and deconstruct a subject to try and reconfigure it
3. they know how people learn

Put this all together and you have a quality teacher in front of students. And then you are in the right place to get student learning, evidenced by high student achievement.

And that is what schools are all about.

Labels: constructivism, learning, quality teaching