"Learners are intellectually generative individuals (with the capacity to pose questions, solve problems and construct theories and knowledge) rather than empty vessels waiting to be filled" - (Yilmaz, K 2008)
For many people this would sound true, and that's because it is. However I am not saying that all other western learning is wrong and needs to be thrown away, in fact it is just as useful. Students learn in a variety of ways in numerous situations. A good teacher will teach with an aim of passing knowledge on, whereas a great teacher will teach the students with pedagogy's and WILL pass knowledge on (assuming they teach with multiple pedagogy's). Students tend to respond to many different teaching styles and it is the teachers role not only to regurgitate information to them but to explain, hone and get the information to 'stick' so that the student remembers and can apply it everywhere and anywhere. For example my English teacher did such a great job at teaching me Shakespeare and made me recite a certain part (I'm a kinaesthetic learner) that to this day I can remember it and some verses of a poem I also recited for an oral presentation. It is a great teacher like that that uses the way a student learns (because we can construct knowledge for ourselves) and teaches to that ability.
Kids, adults, and teenagers alike, are able to learn. Science says that we learn the most between the age of infancy to about 21(when the brain stops developing), so it becomes vitally important as teachers to allow students to create those pathways. We are naturally curious animals, we ask questions; "is the earth round?"; why does the sun move?"; "why is there a kickback when I fire a gun?". It is these tendencies that teachers need to use to allow students to create those path ways and construct knowledge for themselves.
Social Constructivism goes a step further; it says that we learn in group situations. Whether it is bouncing ideas off each other, a group assignment, or even just a class poll, the student sees and can discern knowledge for themselves and constructs a new sense of learning. Class polls are extremely helpful as well as discussion in groups afterwards. In PHYS1001 (a course I am studying) we get asked questions and take polls for the answers, we then are open to discuss our answers and most of the time they vary amongst people and as a group we can often come to a unanimous decision as to which is the right answer (usually through maths and formula, but sometimes reasoning) which changes my way of thinking or someone else's. Further more the concept is understood on a deeper level.
In Jennifer Howell's "Teaching with ICT" a simple table is used to show the implications of technology. A variation of this that I think would be most beneficial is if this was turned into a social activity, where students can communicate, message, help, aid and share knowledge and experiences with each other to boost their learning.
Activities and their associated technologies (Howell, J. 2012)
It can easily be seen just how effective this table would be if used by any teacher. In my opinion not considering the option of social constructionism is one of the greatest and narrow minded mistakes a teacher can make. All students learn differently, each with their own talents, likes and dislikes, but each has a different learning style, one of which may be social social constructionism, which if not considered becomes an issue as the teacher has then hindered the students ability to learn. Hindering the ability of a student, or any person in general, to learn as a teacher defies logical and makes the teacher a hypocrite. Social constructionism, even though it is new, needs to be, like ICT, introduced into the learning environment and used effectively for the benefit of all students and teachers.
(Please play sound clip below)
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