V-+Social+Constructivism

=Social Constructivism=

Constructivism describes how learners build meaning through their experiences. What an individual comes away with from a learning experience will differ depending on his previous knowledge. Social constructivism expands on the idea and focuses on how learners create meaning through social interaction. The latter idea emphasizes the impact of collaboration on learning. Sometimes, the terms “constructivism” and “social constructivism” are used to reference the same idea, but within this text the focus will be specifically on the social perspective of constructivism.

Foundation
What is social constructivism? The consensus is that it is not one theory but rather a collection of viewpoints on learning within a social context. These viewpoints share several basic epistemologic premises.

For social constructivists, reality is an interpretation of the world created by society. People build knowledge by relating to each other and their environment. Learning is a change of meaning or interpretation of existing knowledge based on social interaction around a problem or idea (Kim, 2001; Newby et al, 2000).

Sullivan Palincscar adds “rejection of the view that the locus of knowledge is in the individual” as a precursor to social constructivism (1998). This is not to say that the individual doesn't play an active role in the learning process. After all, the subject has to be meaningful to the learner. What he's saying is that knowledge building is a two-way process between the individual and the people around him.

Theoretical Ideas
Most researchers point to Lev Vygotsky's work with learning and development as one of the backbones of social constructivist ideas. In his examination of the role society plays in development, Vygotsky deduced that interacting with others contributes to the development of higher cognitive processes. His ideas evolved into the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). He argued that in order to close the ZPD gap, the learner must interact with the people in his environment and his peers as part of the learning process (Driscoll, 2005 referencing Vygotsky, 1978). Vygotsky’s emphasis on interactions parallels Jean Piaget's perspective that social interactions lead to cognitive growth in the learner. Piaget agreed that “cognitive conflict created by social interaction is the locus at which the power driving intellectual development is generated.”

These ideas underscore the central theme of social constructivism, which is that collaborative activities enhance development. From the social-constructivist perspective, the saying “too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup” doesn’t hold true. As the social constructivist sees it, each cook will come away more knowledgeable, efficient, and resourceful than before entering the kitchen.

Learning
While social constructivism describes a learning theory it does not set specific pedagogical approaches to instruction. As such, there doesn't appear to be an agreed upon framework for instruction. There are, however, strategies common in social constructivist-based instruction (Driscoll, 2005; Kim, 2001; Newby et. Al, 2000):.


 * Students work in groups or with a peer. Working cooperatively encourages collaboration, dialogue, and negotiation, which is seen as essential in social constructivist learning.
 * The social context that students bring with them to the learning environment is an important consideration. Social context may include the student's interests, cultural background, and informal education. Students build and integrate new knowledge with earlier knowledge. Awareness of the context allows the instructor to tailor the class according to the student's interests.
 * The process of learning is emphasized, not the end product. Learning is problem based. Multiple ways of solving a problem is encouraged.
 * Students develop ownership of learning. They play a large part in deciding the curriculum. Unlike a traditional classroom where the instructors drive the class, students have a say in what they want to learn.
 * Students are often presented with topical issues and learn about real world issues.
 * The participation of a more knowledgeable person, in the form of an instructor, “domain expert”, or practitioner with the community, provides scaffolding.

Guidance through scaffolding encourages learners to achieve their maximum potential.These strategies can be implemented in a wide range of instructional practices, including project-based learning, reciprocal teaching, peer collaboration, cognitive apprenticeships, problem-based instruction, and anchored instruction (Kim, 2001).

Instruction the social-constructivist way is more complex than simply passing on knowledge from instructor to student as in a traditional direct-delivery model. The instructor mainly acts as a facilitator and builder of the collaborative environment in which students work. The instructor provides scaffolding by modeling skills critical to collaboration: discourse, reasoning, critical thinking, reflection, and self-regulation. Instructors may even find themselves taking on the role of a student.
 * Role of the instructor**

To illustrate the role of the instructor, here is an observation of a second-grade class studying mathematics (Palincscar, 1998):

...the teacher created a classroom where the children were validators of one another's ideas, including establishing norms such as persisting in the solution of personally challenging problems, explaining personal solutions to one's partner, listening to and making sense of the partner's explanation, and attempting to achieve consensus about the answer and solution process.

In the social-constructivist classroom, the traditional role in which the instructor has unquestioned authority over the subject matter no longer applies. The relationship of the instructor and the student are parallel. Each may equally have the opportunity to learn as well have his thinking challenged. As one instructor put it:

We want to train students and let them know they can challenge the validity of the teacher's thinking. For example, they can see mistakes made by the teachers as they follow the news closer... What is on the Internet can actually stimulate them to learn better...than their teachers... (Yuen & Chow, 2000)

In this example, the role of the instructor is to help students look to sources such as the news or the Internet critically and selectively.

Strengths and Weaknesses
The emphasis of the social constructivist approach on understanding and working with the context a student brings to his learning environment is a strong argument for its effectiveness. By figuring out what is relevant to the student, instructors can teach in a pertinent and transformational way. When students feel engaged and motivated by learning, they are encouraged to take ownership of their cognitive growth and want to guide their learning process.

A second strength of the social-constructivist approach is that students benefit from the knowledge and skills of others while working in collaboration. However, the dynamics of group situations can often be precarious. A potential danger is that the efforts of the group are commandeered by pre-existing social roles and group dynamics. One student may be more dominant in group settings, while another student may be more timid about speaking his mind. In such a case, not all participants will be contributing to or gaining from group interaction equally.

In addition, researchers and theorists seem to disagree as to which theories define social constructivism much less how to best apply the ideas in the classroom. Because of the flexible and adaptable nature of social constructivist principles, it's difficult to set standards as to how students should be taught. A standard curriculum is difficult to systemize and maintain across classrooms. As such, assessing the effectiveness of social constructivist teaching models can be a challenge.

Personal View
The social constructivist perspective appeals to me because each learner is viewed holistically—each individual has different experiences, histories, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. Diversity within the classroom is recognized and used as tool to further the knowledge of the group. Compare this to a traditional direct-delivery approach in which one perspective—the instructor's—is often valued above and at the expense of the students’. I can see how the traditional approach falls short in expanding students' knowledge.

I also believe collaboration with peers is a valuable tool in learning, as realized by Alex and my attempt at working together for our reports on social constructivism. While we ultimately wrote our own individual reports, we did share resources and maintained a dialogue, in person and through email, about the subject matter. I believe our exchanges helped us find clarity over some more confusing points in our research. By sharing our perspectives, we were able to broaden our collective understanding of an emergent topic in which there are many different points of views.