Introduction: As follows in an hypothetical educational plan for a private middle school that shall serve students grades fifth through eighth; it is the intent of this plan to generate knowledge of our purpose and educational practice with the hopes that a grant may be secured for necessary supplies, educators, technology, and facilities. This plan actively seeks the endorsement of Joyce Morris and her intent to generously fund a newly developed educational system.
Morgan Middle School
~ Constructing Knowledge & Building Futures~
A Private School Institution Built on the Theories of Constructivism
Our Mission
Morgan Middle School seeks to provide a constructivist learning atmosphere where students, grades fifth through eighth, have the opportunity to actively engage in their own education. Our goal is to implement the theories and findings of educational pioneers Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Thus, our educational plan synthesizes both psychological constructivism and social constructivism in a most effective manner for the overall benefit of the student and the propagation of knowledge for life.
Why A Constructivist Approach?
The Traditional Transmissive Model
- Traditional Mode of Learning
- Teacher Directed
- “Banking Model”--Teacher Deposits Information; Students Store, Bank Information; Information “Withdrawn” via tests and drills
The Constructivist Model - Student Centered
- Students as Active Participants
- Students Construct own Knowledge
- Students Manipulate and Learn through Their Environment
- Teacher Creates Rich Environment and Learning Opportunities
A Constructivist Example: Dead Poets Society-1 - Video: "Download"
Notice that Robin William's character takes the students out of the traditional classroom and creates an oppurtunity for the students to relate to the subject being taught. In a traditional classroom, Lord Byron's poem would have been read, the themes disclosed, and important imagery and literary devices would have been memorized by the students. However, in the constructivist example, the students are called to relate to the writer's work on a personal level; thereby, the students construct their own knowledge and the content is made meaningful.
“Constructivism transforms today’s classrooms into a knowledge-construction site where information is absorbed and knowledge is built by the learner.” (Ozger, 2004)
How Does Theory Affect Teaching?
Implementing Piaget's Psychological Constructivism
into the Middle School Curriculum
The Use of Piaget's Cognitive Stages Theory
The Use of Piaget's Cognitive Stages Theory
Sensorimotor (Birth-2)
*Thinking limited by direct visual field. Development of Goal Directed Behavior and Object Permanence.
Preoperational (2-7)
*Beginnings of Representational Thinking and the use of symbols (e.g. language, signs, etc.)
Concrete Operational (7-12)
*Logical operations for seriation, classification, and conservation manifest. Thinking is linked to reality.
Formal Operational (12-Adulthood)
*Abstract thinking begins and is demonstrated with a child's grasp of propositional logic, scientific reasoning, combinatorial reasoning, and reasoning about probabilities and proportions.
~Middle School age children are transitioning from the Concrete Operations stage of development to the Formal Operations stage. Therefore, an education geared towards the specific needs of Middle School age children must create a curriculum that ties content to reality to aide comprehension but also has guided disequilibrium in the realm of abstract thought in order to guide children to the formal modality of thinking, abstract comprehension.
The Use of Piaget's Cognitive Principles
How is knowledge developed and maintained?
Schemas are how we mentally map or organize ideas and concepts. Schemas become increasingly more complex as our interaction with our environment challenge novice schemas and require adaptation in order to facilitate understanding.
Equilibration
As we interact with our environment new information and experiences causes disequilibration; meaning, our novice schemas are challenged and we are forced to adapt existing shemas to incorporate new information.
Adaptation
- Assimilation: Adaptation that occurs when we mold or organize new information to fit an existing schema.
- Accommodation: Adaptation that occurs when we change existing schemas on the basis of new information gathered from our environment.
Examples of Piagetian Theory in the Middle School Classroom
Mind maps are educational tools based on Piaget's theories of cognitive organization, and these tools can be used to facilitate concrete operational and formal operational thinking across subject areas.
Implementing Vygotsky's Social Constructivism
into the Middle School Classroom
Zone of Proximal Development
The Zone of Proximal Development represents the figurative area between what a student can do on his/her own and what he/she can do with the help of others. Social interaction and educator involvment allows a student to go beyond individual capabilities and reach concepts previously out of grasp.
The role of the educator is to create an environment that has elements at the skill level of his/her students but also has elements just beyond the students' reach. Guided participation is necessary to aide students from his/her current level of ability to a higher intellectual and skillful plane. Guided participation occurs on three levels:
- Creating activities that interest and are at the skill levels of students
- Monitoring and helping students' participation
- Adjusting support to fit individual needs of students
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is the educational support lent to students as they try to master new tasks. This support is given in stages with the end goal of individual mastery.
WHY SHOULD MORGAN MIDDLE SCHOOL BE THE RECIPIENT
OF MORRIS'S MILLIONS?
The beauty of educational theory is that it is not law; theories are not fixed facts but rather empirically tested and approved ideas. Therefore, theories leave room for individual variances. It is the variances that make learning so diverse and exhilerating. At Morgan Middle School, we will not force theories as concept of law but rather use the theories of constructivism, Piaget, and Vygotsky as a guiding force in educational principle. Thus, each student shall be treated on an individual bases and not expected to conform to some rigid set of preconcieved notions of success. We will aide each individual to mold and construct his/her own knowledge and provide each students with the tools to organize and make sense of the world around them.
Credits
Abdal-Haqq, I. (1998). Constructivism in teacher education: Considerations for those who would link practice to theory. Eric Digest. Retrieved from
http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-3/theory.htm
Crain, W. (2005). Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications, 5 ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Daniels, D. & Meece, J. (2008). Cognitive development: Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories. Child & Adolescent Development for Educators, 3 ed. New York: McGraw- Hill Higher Education.
Foxfire (2009). The foxfire approach. The Foxfire Fund, Inc. Retrieved from
http://www.foxfire.org/teaching.html
Ozer, O. (2004). Constructivism in Piaget & Vygotsky. The Fountain, 48. Retrieved from
http://www.fountainmagazine.com/article.php?ARTICLEID=418
Rosen, T. (2009). More great graphic organizers for you to use in your classroom. Teachers at Risk. Message posted to
http://www.teachersatrisk.com/2008/05/22/more-great-graphic-organizers-for-you-ton-use-in-the-classroom/
School Should Be Fun. (2009). Message posted to http://schoolshouldbefun.blogspot.com/2007/06/gliffydid-1242534-embedgliffy-this-is.html
Teaching the American Revolution: Scaffolding to Success. (2000). Educationworld. Message posted to http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr218.shtml
