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TEACHING METHODS.   Term Paper ID:30010 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses different ways of educating children.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses different ways of educating children. Centers on two different methods of teaching: the constructivist and the traditional. Defines terms. Piaget's research & theory on role of action in development. Theories of other psychologists and philosophers regarding the purpose of education. Tradtional approach. Progressive core of constructivist learning. Future of the classroom. Paper Introduction: Introduction Learning is as natural to humans as breathing air. We can’t help doing it, especially when we are children. Our desire to find out how the world works is deeply programmed into our brains, encouraged over the generations by evolutionary selection. But while learning is natural, teaching is not. The teacher and the school administrator must make conscious – and of course conscientious – choices amongst different ways of educating children so that they will learn in the ways that are most suited to their current and future needs. This paper examines two very different ways of teaching (which set the stage for very different ways of learning in the classroom) – the constructivist and the traditional. While there are certainly dozens of slightly different definitions of both of the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. New York: Falmer.Shapiro, Ar. & Kohlberg, L. All of this requires a new consciousness about language, and change incriteria for admission to higher levels. The essential characteristics of active methods are that they inspire children's interest, play, experimentation, and co- operation (DeVries and Kohlberg, 1987, p. The inclusion of all children and youth is part of ageneral integrative trend that has accelerated since World War II. 48). But while learning is natural,teaching is not. (1998). 11). Introduction Learning is as natural to humans as breathing air. In 189 William James, often considered the father of Americanpsychology of education published The Principles of Psychology, in which heargued that the purpose of education is to organize the child's powers ofconduct so as to fit him of her to his of her social and physicalenvironment. Although his ideas seemvery dated now, a core of what he argued for remains within our ideas ofprogressive education today. The teacher and the school administrator must makeconscious - and of course conscientious - choices amongst different ways ofeducating children so that they will learn in the ways that are most suitedto their current and future needs. Chief among the goals of thisseparation was the application of new psychological principles to educationnot simply in the realm of moral growth but intellectual growth as well(Brooks & Brooks, 1999, p. The final one - the fact that, educational institutions wereprimarily governed by local authorities rather than by federal ones -allowed for sufficient flexibility and room for experimentation thatvarious types of educational reform could be tried out (Marlowe & Page,1998, p. Leadership for constructivist schools. But it was not until the end of the 19th century, when the Germanpsychologist Wilhelm Max Wundt established the first psychologicallaboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879, that serious efforts weremade to separate psychology from philosophy. Constructionism in practice. The milieu in which James was writing and in which the beginningsof progressive (and from there constructivist) ideas in education werebeing formed differed from education systems of other Western societies inthree fundamental respects. Adler, professor of the philosophy of law at the sameinstitution, are its most recognized proponents. This paper examines two very differentways of teaching (which set the stage for very different ways of learningin the classroom) - the constructivist and the traditional. Piaget believed thatchildren, by exploring their environment, create their own cognitive, orintellectual, conceptions of reality. We can't helpdoing it, especially when we are children. 37). Theseideas, first explored in Europe, were brought to American schools bypioneering educators such as Francis W. Education must beseen as a primary instrument in recognizing and providing equality forthose suffering disadvantage because of sex, race, ethnic origin, age, orphysical disability. 44). These voices were particularly strongin the 193 s, in the 195 s, and again in the 198 s (Richardson, 1997, p.39). Piaget's research and theory on the role of action in development led him to emphasize the necessity for educators to develop methods appealing to children's spontaneous activity. & Resnick, M. Second, because theyhad this confidence in the power of education, Americans provided moreyears of schooling for a larger percentage of the population than othercountries. Herbart, born the first year of the AmericanRevolution, emphasized moral education and designed a highly structuredteaching technique. Parker, who was sharply critical ofthe mechanical, assembly-line methods of traditional schools and stressed"quality teaching," by which he meant such things as activity, creativeself-expression, excursions, understanding the individual, and thedevelopment of personality (Brooks & Brooks, 1999, p. By continually interacting with theirenvironment, they keep adding to and reshaping their conceptions of theworld. He examined children's conceptions of number, space, logic,geometry, physical reality, and moral judgment. Hutchins,president and then chancellor of the University of Chicago from 1929 to1951, and Mortimer J. As noted in the introduction, the core thinking behind constructivisteducation is deeply indebted to the work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget- whose impact on educational theory in the early 2 th century in factextends far beyond this one area of educational reform. Education islife, not merely a preparation for life (Shapiro, 2 , p. Theseconcerns - about empowering each child through constructivist methods ofteaching - remain as clearly linked to progressive political goals andideals as they were in the 192 s. It has led to more demandingdefinitions of equality involving, for example, equality of outcome ratherthan of opportunity. Constructivist teaching tells us that eachchild learns by interacting with the world around her, shaping herself tomatch the challenges of the world even as she (re)creates the world throughher own understanding of it. 1 ). Piaget asserted that human intelligence develops in stages, each ofwhich enhances a person's understanding of the world in a new and morecomplex way. Knowledge, he said,should create an "apperceptive mass" - a network of ideas - in a person'smind to which new ideas can be added. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.Marlowe, B & Page, M. Creating and sustaining the constructivist classroom. School should be a placethat would allow society to be interpreted to the child through dailyliving in the classroom, which acts as a miniature society. 47). It was during this same historical period that elementary educationspread throughout the Western world, largely doing away with illiteracy andraising the level of social understanding. Adler argued for therestoration of an Aristotelian viewpoint in education. The centrality of Piaget's work to the constructivist model ofeducation merits a somewhat lengthy citation acknowledging and describingthis fact: Piaget's research showed that the mind of the child is qualitatively different from that of older children and adults. Central to sucha style of teaching was an overriding belief in the democratic concept ofindividual worth and individual potential (Shapiro, 2 , p. Constructivist teacher education. Briefdefinitions of each of these terms will be given before the two approachesare examined in greater depth to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses ofeach one of them. Piaget wroteextensively on the development of thought and language patterns inchildren. The next few generations will face enormous challenges, but theways in which they are taught today can give them the needed skills toovercome them. But while all modern constructivist teaching approaches rely heavilyon the work of Piaget, he is in some ways not the beginning of the processof initiating the constructivist classroom. 58). Dissatisfaction with existing schools led severaleducational reformers who wished to put their ideas into practice toestablish experimental schools during the last decade of the 19th centuryand in the early 2 th century, and in many ways we remain indebted to themtoday (Shapiro, 2 , p. Interest in the work of Sigmund Freud and thepsychoanalytic image of the child in the 192 s, as well as attempts toapply psychology to national training and education tasks in the 194 s and'5 s, stimulated the development of educational psychology and have helpedlay the foundations for more constructivist classrooms (Marlowe & Page,1999, p. (1987). This shift would lead educators down a path that was itself an oldone, at least in the realm of philosophy if not of primary education - theidea of heuristics, or "the art of intellectual discovery" (Kafai &Resnick, 1996, p. Dewey, a central figure in American Progressive education, argued thatthe school should be the laboratory of philosophy. This would mean that it is proper for school to teach facts, ideas, and values on the assumption that human beings (of any age) are endowed by nature with the ability to use them (Kafai & Resnick, 1996, p. In search of understanding: The case of constructivist classrooms. Furthermore, human intelligence cannot be developed fullyalong any of these axes unless the child is encouraged (and one might evenargued required) to be engaged as actively in the learning process as isthe teacher (DeVries & Kohlberg, 1987, p. While there are certainly valid arguments in this perspective, theyare also of course inherently conservative. Based on his work, Herbart's followers designed afive-step teaching method: (1) prepare the pupils to be ready for the newlesson, (2) present the new lesson, (3) associate the new lesson with ideasstudied earlier, (4) use examples to illustrate the lesson's major points,and (5) test pupils to ensure they had learned the new lesson(Brooks &Brooks, 1999, p. Thus the formal educationalenvironment should mimic in this one way at least the natural learningenvironment in which young humans (as well as other young primates) growinto maturity, urged on by their elders to find (at least in some measure)their own way in the world. San Francisco: Scarecrow Press. Constructivist models of education are ideal for helpingchildren to understand the importance of understanding interrelationshipsof the ecosystem, and the idea that ecology can be used as an organizingconcept. While there are certainly dozens of slightly different definitions ofboth of these terms, a common ground may be found among them. 41) James's ideas would probably not have been so well accepted had theynot meshed with generally held principles about education already common inthe United States. Maintaining thatthere are unchanging verities, he sought a return to education fixed incontent and aim (Richardson, 1997, p. Against the various "progressive" lines of 2 th-centuryeducation (including the constructivist classroom), there have been strongvoices advocating older traditions. Theworld will continue to change at a rapid rate, and not only must we educatestudents to be able to handle these changes, but we must educate them to beable to do so while working with others who come from backgrounds verydifferent from their own. New York: Colwin.Richardson, V. The Future of the Classroom While there are important elements of the traditional classroom thatwill no doubt always remain with us, the future of teaching would seem tobelong to the advocates of constructivism, which is designed (after all)not to help us safeguard the knowledge and skills of the past but toprepare students - citizens - with a set of active learning skills thatwill ready them for each new challenge that they will face. New York: Longman.Kafai, Y. (It is of course possible that the flow of causalityruns the other way and that James developed his ideas precisely because hewas influenced by the culture and politics of his times.) The nationalsystem of formal education in the United States was being developed in the19th century during the years that James was beginning his work as ascholar. Educational reforms in the progressive era were very much linked tosocial and political reform, nor should they be seen as in any intellectualway distinct from each other. The notions expressed by progressive education have influenced public-school systems everywhere so that even schools that do not considerthemselves to be constructivist incorporate many constructivist elementsinto their pedagogy such as activity programs, imaginative writing andreading classes, projects linked to the community, flexible classroomspace, dramatics and informal activities, discovery methods of learning,self-assessment systems, and programs for the development of citizenshipand responsibility (Brooks & Brooks, 1999, p. (1997). He wanted to include history,geography, and literature in the school curriculum as well as reading,writing, and arithmetic. Knowledge acquired in thisfashion is usually allied to traditional high culture. 11.) Another way that this word can be understood (andthe authors rightly note that it is etymologically linked to Archimedes'scry of "Eureka!", a paradigmatic example of the learner suddenly reachingout to the world to make it make sense) as teaching not numbers or thinkingin school, but the science of learning, the science of problem-solving. Hutchins denounced Americanhigher education for its vocationalism and "anti-intellectualism" as wellas for its delight in minute and isolated specialization. Advocates for traditional classroom are generally those who hold abelief in the essential qualities of both learning and intelligence. Our desire to find out how theworld works is deeply programmed into our brains, encouraged over thegenerations by evolutionary selection. To befully understood, the progressive education movement must be seen as partand parcel of a broader social and political reform called the Progressivemovement, which dates to the last decades of the 19th century and the earlydecades of the2 th. Constructivist teachingis the "art of setting up situations in which the learner will 'constructknowledge'" (Kafai & Resnick, 1996, p. 51). First, Americans were more inclined to regardeducation as a solution to various social problems. But there are now new challenges facing the next generation as well.Concern for the earth's endangered environment has become central to thelives of us all, emphasizing in both intellectual and social life the needfor cooperation rather thanCompetition. 41). Our society is and must continue to be an increasingly inclusive one,and this must be true of our educational system as well. What exactly is meant by thatwill be developed below, but it is important to note that this concept ofactively constructing knowledge is based on the theories of psychologistJean Piaget. He and hiscolleagues urged a return to the cultivation of the intellect. The Progressive Core of Constructivist Learning Constructivist ideals in education are very much allied to largerprogressive calls for cultural, political and educational reform. Closely related to essentialism in the field of education is what usedto be called humanistic, or liberal, education in its traditional form (asmight have been seen in an elite private school in the 19th century).Although many intellectuals have argued the case, Robert M. This is the same basic conception of humannature that lies at the core of Progressive political reform. 47). 117). (1999). A traditional approach to teaching may be summarized in the followingway: Traditional education sees intelligence as inherent in the human mind and therefore in no need of being learned. Proponents of child-centered approaches to education (most of whichare strongly constructivist) have typically argued that the school shouldbe fitted to the needs of the child and not the child to the school. (2 ). Historical Background to Constructivist Education Constructivism begins in many ways with the attempt to applyscientific method to the study of education, and this itself dates back tothe German philosopher Johann Friedrich Herbart, who called for theapplication of psychology to the art of teaching. We are all much more aware of how we are linked across internationalborders not only by our common humanity but by our fragile environment. Programs of early education. They are also elitist, ignoringthe necessities that poverty exacts on people's lives and so on theirrequirements for certain kinds of education. However, thepossession of such type of knowledge is not necessarily a marker ofintelligence or the ability to learn per se. James, along with his student Edward Thorndike and the philosopherJohn Dewey helped to clear away many of the more bizarre notions once heldabout the successive steps involved in the development of mental functionsfrom birth to maturity. 119). The common goal of these schools was to eliminate the school'straditional stiffness and to break down hard and fast subject-matter lines.Each school adopted an activity program and operated on the assumption thateducation was something that should not be imposed from without but shoulddraw forth the latent possibilities from within the child. Not only did he in his ownresearch rely on the work of others before him (as do all good researchers)but certain historical and cultural changes had to come about to shift someschools and teachers from a traditional to a constructivist approach. Maintaining that education's primary goal is moraldevelopment, Herbart claimed good character rested on knowledge whilemisconduct resulted from an inadequate education. & Brooks, M. They favor the "mentaldisciplines" and, in the matter of method and content, put effort aboveinterest, subjects above activities, collective experience above that ofthe individual, logical organization above the psychological, and theteacher's initiative above that of the learner (Richardson, 1997, p. Theseessentialists stress those human experiences that they believe areindispensable to people living today or at any time. This is a significant landmark inestablishing the breaking away of what be seen as a protoconstructivistframework from traditionalist principles of education (Marlowe & Page,1998, p. Interests must be awakened and broadened as the naturalstarting points of instruction. Traditionalist Approaches Constructivist teaching stems from a particular set of intellectualand historical circumstances, and the same is true for traditionalistapproaches. (1996). 91). Yet, despite this progress, theschools had failed to keep pace with the tremendous social changes that hadbeen going on. Our world is a fundamentally different one now than it was a centuryago. 38). ReferencesBrooks, J. 262). This fact led him to argue that the aim of education should not be only to instruct, but to provide a formative milieu for the child's indissociable intellectual, moral and affective development - not just to furnish the mind, but to help form its reasoning power.... Constructivist teaching makes the practice of both teaching andlearning more opaque and more subject to scrutiny. New York: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.DeVries, R. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.