Constructivism: Past and Present - a Lit Review

3252 Words14 Pages
Constructivism is a theory of learning which supports the view that learners are active participants in the process of learning and that knowledge develops as the experiences of life emerges. It postulates that learners utilize the mind to external information and internal ideas, learning takes place. In its classic-contemporary manifestation, it may take the form of Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation or Vygotsky’s social cognition, reiterating the point that learning is dynamic and has different faces. The abundant literature presenting the varied angles of approach is instructive about the impact of constructivist theories on the learning landscape. When progenitors to constructivism such as Heraclitus and Immanuel Kant were writing, they may not have imagined an amplified climax to the idea of the complexity of humanity and the value of the social environment to human development as that which emerged out of constructivism which has spanned the better part of a century and still evolving. This thought is borne out by the establishing of a constructivism society in 1996 to guide the development and discussions about constructivism for that time and for the future. From philosophical underpinnings grounded in such works of Kant as categories, and others through to Herbart’s dynamism laid the foundation for cogency and panorama in the evolution of constructivism (Mahoney, 2004). Over time, a number of different theories and strategies have emerged from a constructivist or social constructivist foundation. Jean Piaget one of the more commonly referred to “pre-thinkers” of constructivism, writing in the mid to late 20th century discussed a cognitive view of development in which, he presented development as a process of ordering or organizing our social experience. When we are “organized” (Mahoney, 2004; para.7), our world is also organized. This structuring
Open Document