top of page
Search
Writer's pictureAaron Laylo

Module 6A Constructivism and my learning experience as a teacher

Updated: Sep 30, 2024

This entry is part of journal-writing requirement in the Theories of Learning course of the Professional Teaching Certificate program offered by the University of the Philippines Open University.

Hello! It’s been a while. In this entry, I’d like to dispense my reflection thoughts on Constructivist Theories, but in a way that is rather personal. I will not focus much on an analysis of Constructivist Theories of education but on how they were or were not applied in my practice as an educator.

Just a cute metaphor - constructivism is like playing Lego blocks, and it's more fun when you do it with others. You learn and enjoy at the same time as you learn that not all blocks are compatible with others. Each block may work well with others and some are just best to build on top of another.



Back in 2007, when I was a graduate student, I took a part-time tutoring gig teaching ESL to Korean students. It was my first attempt to teach ESL in a paid work. But I have always loved “practice teaching” back in high school when we were given tasks to teach specific grade-levels for one week. I taught English Language and Literature back then. I just find English fun — as I can express myself freely through words and phrases.


So when I had that opportunity to teach English as a Second or Foreign Language, I wanted my students to feel happy but still quite challenged in learning English. Challenge is an important aspect in learning so I would encourage my students, primarily kids, to level up only after they have gotten a good grasp of the lesson. Most of the time, back then, I had to take much of the teaching part in the learning experience mainly because I was in a tutor capacity.


When I became a full-time teacher in 2008 at the Ateneo de Manila High School, I sort of learned the essential skills that a teacher should possess to optimize the learning experience of students. It was then that I practically learned about student-centered learning. 


At that time, I was doing graduate studies in International Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and not Education. But in my desire to fulfill my duties well, I enrolled in 2 Education courses in 2009 in the same university, and one of the courses I took was Educational Psychology where theories of learning were also discussed. I found Constructivist Learning Theory interesting, especially Piaget’s model. It’s also interesting because only then did I learn who Piaget is — a name too familiar because my younger brother attended a nursery that advocated Piaget’s principles. The guy’s model must been effectively, prominent, or well-recognized that a school would be named after him, just like Maria Montessori, Kumon School, or Singapore School.


But what is Piaget’s learning model about? What is the constructivist learning theory about?


Constructivist learning theory asserts that learning is an active process of creating meaning out of experiences within the broader context of the learner’s environment. Also known as Constructivism among educators, it is learner-centered — learning is an active construction of knowledge by the learners, while teachers “merely” facilitate and guide learning. (Module 6A).


Interestingly, this is split up into two models. As Santrock 2011 shared, “the cognitive constructivist approach, grounded primarily on the works of Jean Piaget, emphasize learners’ cognitive construction of knowledge and understanding. In contrast, the social constructivist approach, grounded on the works of Lev Vygotsky, emphasize collaboration in the production of knowledge and understanding.


Two words differ here — cognitive construction vs. collaboration.


Furthermore, Piaget’s model puts “emphasis on the significant role that experiences” play in logical and conceptual growth... “ Instead of telling, the teacher must begin asking so that the student comes to the conclusions on their own instead of being told.” (https://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/constructivism/piaget/). Vygotsky’s“social constructivist (or social development) theory” argues that “social interaction precedes development; consciousness and cognition are the end-products of socialization and social behavior.” (In contrast, Piaget argues that development precedes learning.) (http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html)


Here’s a takeaway — Piaget’s model suggests that development precedes learning while Vygotsky’s model suggests that social interaction precedes development.


Either way, both models recognize the importance of the following few key words or phrases that characterize the Constructivist learning theory — “learner-centered” “facilitate” “experiences”.


I now recall that back in my younger, if not amateur days, as a teacher, I would consider myself an effective teacher if I could provide detailed lectures in my Social Studies classes. I grew up in a generation where most of my teachers would still conduct lessons as a lecture class. It was rather acceptable that in my first few years, I had to adjust to moving from that kind of teacher-centered learning to learner-centered ones. My supervisors, colleagues, and friends in my education sphere were quite vocal about the importance of learner-centered lessons. After all, such approach is also advantageous for both teachers and students. For one, teachers don’t have to exhaust themselves in long lectures. Students will also be able to learn by themselves or with their group-mates and classmates.


From teacher-centered classes, I was able to gradually adjust to the learner-centered learning approach for the next few years of my stint as a high school teacher. When I moved to university teaching as an assistant professor in UP, I also applied the same approach. Lectures, however, were still quite crucial for university as it was structured by the department i was affiliated in. For example, Tuesdays would be for lecture and Thursdays would be for discussion classes. I would make sure that on discussion classes were truly learner-centered. We had a lot of group activities that encourage collaboration among peers.


I think that my experience as a teacher who was learning the ropes in applying learner-centered approach and strategies was also a good application of the Constructivist Learning Theory. I have learned in two ways — a) learning from my mistakes through the entire learning experience and b) learning through collaboration with fellow learners.


12 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Journals

Quo Vadis

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
bottom of page