KEYNOTE SPEECH Constructivism: Implementing Practical Strategies for Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

In North America, we have singing groups called barber shoppers. Has anyone heard of the term, barbershop choir? This is what they look like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZJHsT2ONEs. Right now, you may be totally confused, and asking yourself, “What does a barbershop choir have to do with a keynote speech on Constructivism.”Does anyone know the answer? And now, after the appropriate wait time (which is another constructivist strategy), here is the answer. The term "keynote speaker" actually comes from barbershop singers, because they often practiced a keynote, before singing the entire song. (http://www.ehow.com/about_5250659_definition-keynote-speaker.html). This confusion that you first experienced is sometimes referred to as a state of disequilibrium. It is often is associated with engaging students because it involves emotions which are necessary for learning to occur, and students tend to be inquisitive; wanting to know the answer to information that is unfamiliar to them. This leads us to the major premise of constructivism: “Engagement Precedes Learning”. Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences (http://www.funderstanding.com/theory/constructivism/ ) My co-authors and I extended this definition in our latest book (Flynn, P., Mesibov, D. Vermette, P. & Smith, R. M. (2013). Captivating classes with constructivism (3rded.). Potsdam, New York: Institute for Learning Center Education) to include the following: Constructivism is a “theory” of how people learn; it is not a practice, strategy, technique, or set of lessons. Constructivist theory can be a guide for a teacher as he designs lessons and reacts to student questions and work. Constructivist theory does not address what people should be learning – only how they should learn. The teacher decides the purpose of the lesson; the teacher focuses students on what she wants them to learn by assessing them on what she will hold them accountable for and letting them know this in advance, often by distribution of a Rubric. If a lesson is well crafted, it may allow students options which will let them pursue learning well beyond what the teacher requires – BUT NOT INSTEAD OF the Learning Objectives set by the teacher.