Constructivism: Its Theoretical Underpinnings, Variations, and Implications for Classroom Instruction.

This article provides an overview of constructivism and its implications for classroom practices. To that end, it first describes the basic features of constructivism along with its major forms or variations. It then elucidates the constructivist view of knowledge, learning, teaching, and the relationship among these constructs. More specifically, it explains the assumptions and principles of constructivist pedagogy, bringing to the fore its core characteristics that differ fundamentally from other instructional paradigms. Last, the article presents how constructivism as a learning theory can guide the process of learning and teaching in real classroom settings. Learning theories are indispensable for effective and pedagogically meaningful instructional practices. A learning theory provides “clarity, direction and focus throughout the instructional design process.” Hence, an effective instructional framework is supposed to take into account the theoretical bases in which it is grounded (McLeod 2003). Likewise, an educator is expected to understand the educational theory or theories behind a given instructional framework to gain success in reform efforts (Fosnot 1996). Among many different labels, learning theories can be categorized in three main areas: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. The purpose of this article is to clarify the conceptual underpinnings of constructivism along with its variations and its implications for classroom instruction. Constructivism The philosophy of constructivism evolved from dissatisfaction with traditional Western theories of knowledge. As such, it contrasts sharply with objectivist epistemology and positivism (Crotty 1998; Hendry, 161 Frommer, and Walker 1999; Glasersfeld 1995). In contrast to the objectivist notion of objective truth and meaning inherent in objects, independent of any consciousness, constructivism postulates that knowledge cannot exist outside our minds; truth is not absolute; and knowledge is not discovered but constructed by individuals based on experiences (Crotty 1998, 42; Fosnot 1996; Hendry, Frommer, and Walker 1999). Constructivism replaces the traditional conception of truth—as the correct representation of an external world—with the concept of viability, meaning that descriptions of states or events of the world are relative to the observer (Glasersfeld 1995, 8). The constructivist perspective, therefore, posits that knowledge is not passively received from the world or from authoritative sources but constructed by individuals or groups making sense of their experiential worlds (Maclellan and Soden 2004). Constructivism advances meaning-making and knowledge construction as its foremost principles (Crotty 1998; Fosnot 1996; Phillips 1995). It views knowledge as temporary, nonobjective, internally constructed, developmental, and socially and culturally mediated (Fosnot 1996). Individuals are assumed to construct their own meanings and understandings, and this process is believed to involve interplay between existing knowledge and beliefs and new knowledge and experiences (Richardson 1997, 2003; Schunk 2004). This view of meaning-making through previously constructed knowledge implies that: • Learners are intellectually generative individuals (with the capacity to pose questions, solve problems, and construct theories and knowledge) rather than empty vessels waiting to be filled. educational HORIZONS Spring 2008