Written Assignment 3

Constructivism enables learners to construct their own meanings and learn new skills and
ideas. Although, the notion seems not difficult to comprehend, applying this idea into lesson plan
can be challenging. Vygotsky represents the constructivism movement and stresses that “the
interaction of interpersonal (social), cultural–historical, and individual factors as the key to
human development” (Schunk, 2012, p. 242). He also emphasizes on “socially meaningful
activity as an important influence on human consciousness” (Schunk, 2012, p. 242). Context
forms and structures learning and educators needs to consider the environment to design lessons.
Learning new skills and ideas is one of social activities and teachers need to interact with
students and design the interaction situations or spark the interest by giving students a chance to
learn more from others considering the knowledge they already possess. Language is one of the
most significant method to transmit and receive skills or ideas. As a rule, any person, a teacher, a
parent can educate children and social interaction should be encouraged.
Constructivism ideas can be reinforced through delivery approach, assessment strategy,
and classroom management. A key concept is the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which is
defined as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent
problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving
under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Schunk, 2012, p. 244). For
example, at the beginning of the class, the teacher tries to define what students know about
inventions and scientists in order to build on their prior knowledge later on. “For the learner to
construct meaning, he must actively strive to make sense of new experiences and in so doing
must relate it to what is already known or believed about a topic” (Applefield, Huber, &
Moallem, 2000, p. 8). In the introduction part of the lesson, the teacher can encourage student-
student interaction. “Students develop knowledge through an active construction process, not
through the passive reception of information” (Applefield, Huber, & Moallem, 2000, p. 8).
Through visual tools and conversation, the teacher purposefully encourages meaningful
interaction through the language. Vygotsky thought that “a critical component of psychological
development was mastering the external process of transmitting cultural development and
thinking through symbols such as language, counting, and writing” (Schunk, 2012, p. 243). I use
it often in the lesson; students can receive a task and work in groups in order to create meaning
together, in order to negotiate the meaning and create questions for further interactions. When
students report, they incorporate the knowledge they construct through the language and during
the practice stage students experiment and try out new ways of using the knowledge, they
construct new meanings through social interaction. “Vygotsky considered the social environment
critical for learning and thought that social interactions transformed learning experiences”
(Schunk, 2012, p. 243).
“In the ZPD, a teacher and learner (adult/child, tutor/tutee, model/observer,
master/apprentice, expert/novice) work together on a task that the learner could not perform
independently because of the difficulty level” (Schunk, 2012, p. 243). In the lesson, for example,
I can present the Passive Voice and after building language awareness, create interaction. “In a
learning situation, a teacher initially might do most of the work, after which the teacher and the
learners share responsibility” (Schunk, 2012, p. 246). The teacher links the cultural background
when asks about inventions and gives a task to choose the most important inventions, designing
the units that develop language skills through meaningful communication, the course book text
and new grammatical structures. “Cognitive change occurs in the ZPD as teacher and learner
share cultural tools, and this culturally mediated interaction produces cognitive change when it is
internalized in the learner” (Schunk, 2012, p. 243).
“Scaffolding is appropriate when a teacher wants to provide students with some
information or to complete parts of tasks for them so that they can concentrate on the part of the
task they are attempting to master” (Schunk, 2012, p. 246). Scaffolding, which refers to the
process of controlling task elements, can assist students to master new skills. In the lesson,
during the “Practice” stage, I usually ask students to practice more through board games, guess
games or Find someone who activities. “As learners become more competent, the teacher
gradually withdraws the scaffolding so learners can perform independently” (Schunk, 2012, p.
246).
The core idea of constructivism is the reciprocal teaching, which “involves an interactive
dialogue between a teacher and small group of students” (p. 246). During the evaluation and
reflection stage, planning and analysis, I can assist students to prepare and create meanings
through the tasks.
According to constructivism, knowledge in is individual; however, the learners construct
their knowledge through their interaction with the physical world, collaboratively in social
settings and in a cultural and linguistic environment (Sjøberg, 2007, p. 3) During the lesson I can
involve students into peer collaboration, which is the core of Vygotsky’s approach. “When peers
work on tasks cooperatively, the shared social interactions can serve an instructional function”
(Schunk, 2012, p. 246).
Moreover, social media or the Internet can enhance the lesson plan. In order to construct
new structures and knowledge, students might be asked to do some more research on inventions
and through social media, which reinforces interaction, share what they have found. Shared
knowledge effects the community and ignites learning inside the community. “Learners bring
their own understandings to social interactions and construct meanings by integrating those
understandings with their experiences in the context” (Schunk, 2012, p. 244).
Educators to improve and develop plans that are more advanced can use the ideas of
constructivism and using basic principles of Vygotsky educators can encourage learning,
thinking and interaction.
References:
1. Applefield, J. M., Huber, R., & Moallem, M. (2000). Constructivism in
theory and practice: Toward a better understanding. The High School Journal, 84(2), 35-
53.
2. Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th
ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
3. Sjøberg, S. (2007). Constructivism and learning. International
encyclopaedia of education, 3.