Constructivism and Brain Based Research within the Classroom

Describe how the contributions of Piaget and Vygotsky guide the work of constructivist teachers, including references to recent brain research. How does the role of the constructivist teacher differ from the teacher who utilizes a didactic approach? How does your knowledge of human development affect your decision-making as a constructivist teacher?

Jessica L. Harris

Constructivism and Brain Based Research within the Classroom

The influence of Piaget and Vygotsky along with brain based research is evident in many areas of education. Constructivist teachers use the studies of Piaget and Vygotsky when they pair their students in groups in order to learn. Both Piaget and Vygotsky emphasize the social context of learning, meaning that students learn better when socializing with their classmates in groups, rather than individually.
Social Constructivist teachers also develop lessons that fit within each child’s Zone of Proximal Development. A ZPD is “The distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.65). Designing lessons according to each child’s ZPD also alludes to the point put forth by brain based research which states that each brain is unique. Recognizing that each student has a ZPD provides a broader arena for learning and does not support the idea that all students learn at the same level.
Constructivist teachers who adhere to the brain based research also emphasize the idea that learning should take place in a meaningful context. Furthermore, this approach emphasizes the idea that everything that students learn within the classroom should be connected to their everyday experiences. Brain based research also states that learning takes place in patterns, which means that students learn better when they are able to take new knowledge and incorporate it into their schema containing previous knowledge.
There is a significant difference between the role of the constructivist teacher in relation to the role of the teacher who utilizes a didactic approach to learning. The teacher who utilizes a didactic approach to learning simply presents information and does not explicitly encourage students to actively participate in the learning process. Teachers who utilize a constructivist approach to learning presents the material and often puts students in charge of the learning process by encouraging them to collaborate and work in groups.
The lessons that I present to my students will always contain an element of familiarity, due to the fact that students construct knowledge by connecting what they are learning, to their background knowledge containing what they already know. Furthermore, as a constructivist teacher recognize the fact that students learn better through social interaction, by placing my students into cooperative learning groups. Not only will cooperative learning groups teach my students how to be responsible for their own learning, but it will also provide them with social skills that they will need in order to be productive citizens. Additionally the information that I possess concerning the benefits of allowing students to learn through social interaction, will influence the way that I teach my classes. As a constructivist teacher, it is vital that I say clear of the didactic method of teaching, due to the fact that it does not encourage the social interaction that is needed for learning.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.