constructivism
Description
Constructivism, as a psychological theory, stems from the burgeoning field of cognitive science, particularly the later work of Jean Piaget just prior to his death in 1980, the sociohistorical work of Lev Vygotsky and his followers, and the work of Jerome Bruner, Howard Gardner, and Nelson Goodman, among others who have studied the role of representation in learning.
In contrast to behaviorism, rather than behaviors or skills as the goal of instruction, cognitive development and deep understanding are the foci; rather than stages being the result of maturation, they are understood as constructions of active learner reorganization.(Fosnot. C, pg. 9)
Constructivism posits that Rather than viewing learning as a linear process, it is understood to be complex and fundamentally nonlinear in nature. Piaget approaches constructivism from a biological and evolutionary perspective, situating constructivism through an empirical lens. He rejects Darwinian and Lamarckian models of learning (and thereby evolution) as too extreme, grounding constructivism in recursive models of learning and growth.
Under the constructivist model, Piaget utilizes the term dissipative structures to conceptualize the flow of energy between critical points which eventually results in bifurcation resulting in new structures.
Fosnot states that these are only two facets of the constructivist model, but they go a long way toward establishing the fundamental principle that learning is a constructive activity that the students themselves have to carry out. (Fosnot. C, pg. 6) From this point of view, then, the task of the educator is not to dispense knowledge but to provide students with opportunities and incentives to build it up.
Quotes
- In contrast, Piaget took the position that the activity of the organism drives the evolution of new structures because the development of new behavior more or less causes an imbalance in the genome, the regulatory system of the genetic structure. (Fosnot. C, pg. 11)