We explain what constructivism is and who founded this pedagogical school. In addition, its differences with the traditional model.
What is constructivism?
Constructivism is called a school of pedagogy based on the principles of the constructivist theory of the knowledge, that is, in understanding the teaching as a dynamic, participatory task, in which the student is given the tools to develop the resolutions to the students themselves. problems presented to you.
The founder of this constructivist current is the German philosopher and pedagogue Ernst von Glasersfeld, who argued the impossibility of "transmitting" knowledge, as is traditionally thought, advocating rather the "viability" of knowledge. information, that is, by leading the learner so that he can reach the answer himself. From there the education action oriented.
Constructivism is based, at the same time, on the studies of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotski, who were interested in the construction of the knowledge from the interaction with the environment, and in the internal construction of knowledge thanks to the social environment, respectively. Similarly, there is the approach of Albert Bandura and Walter Mischel, who proposed cognitive and social learning.
All these approaches, together with the postulates of behavioral psychology (conductivism), allowed the renewal of the paradigms from teaching of the time, which allowed a great criticism of the educational system as a whole.
Differences with the traditional model
Instead of standing in front of everyone to recite a class, as is more traditional, the teacher that uses constructivist pedagogy raises its method such as leading the group towards the tools (mental, conceptual, physical) that allow it to assume an active role in understanding and acquiring knowledge. This is: that knowledge cannot be transmitted from the teacher to the student, but must be "built" of its own accord, and the role of the teacher is to promote the conditions for this to occur.
This constructivist teaching exercise revolves around three different ideas:
- The student is responsible for his own learning, not only the teacher. Therefore, it has a much more active assigned role than in other pedagogies.
- The contents to be imparted do not come from nowhere, but are the result of a previous series of elaborations at the social level.
- Teachers or facilitators must not only build the stage for the encounter with knowledge to occur, but also must guide said learning activity towards a rich and diverse mental activity.