Constructivism – a paradigm shift in education

Gone are those days when we used to consider our kids as blank slate where we as a teachers were supposed to write our thoughts and ideology. Now the kids are well acquainted with new concepts and ideas. We can be a guide to them to construct a new knowledge based on their previous knowledge. This is what the constructivism is.

It is a pedagogy of teaching where student in the classroom is actively involved and their ideas are well listened and worked upon. There is no rote learning or spoon feeding of subjects while the child learns through exploration and with his own experiences .

Some of the techniques used in this type of learning are

  • Project based activities
  • Exploration method
  • Problem solving techniques
  • Inquiry based learning
  • Discovery methods

Advantages of this approach

  • Child is not a passive listener as in lecture method.
  • Child develops the reasoning skills.
  • He feels motivated to ask questions.
  • He tries to make his own theories and verify them.
  • Learning through this method is long lasting.

Unfortunately in India education means curriculum completion and percentage oriented results, such an innovative approach is not being adopted. There are only handful of schools which are practiing this. Creating such an atmosphere where child could use this cognitive skills can help him to grow better in all perspectives. Now is a time to challenge the education system and at the same time , to come out from percent oriented results and performance.

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