“Constructivism and Lesson Planning” January 19th/2023

For assignment one, I’ve decided to focus on constructivism and learner-centered approaches to teaching. I feel like this concept really focuses on a key aspect of education as a guide to help students acquire life skills and further independence. After skimming through a few articles that were a bit too dated, I found an article written by Lawrence A. White titled “Building Future-Ready Learners: Constructivism and Lesson Planning” published in the fall of 2021.

In this article, White is very concise and brief about the constructivist method of teaching and he does this by describing the method, and then providing an example of a constructivist lesson plan that challenges learners to reflect on prior knowledge, acquire new knowledge independently or in a group, and finally discuss and analyze the concepts taught. This process was described as an exploratory phase and discovery phase, which builds to the constructivist goal of facilitation learners to not just acquire knowledge, but construct their own knowledge through past experiences and new critical thinking skills being developed.

The main concepts and goals within a constructivist perspective of education makes me think about what the definition of a successful person in today’s society would be seen as, compared to in the mid-1900s when the product model of curriculum was prevalent. Conformity, efficiency, and obedience were the main focus of that era, and that was most likely seen as the path towards a successful future.

In the article, White refers to what has been called “21st-century” skills which he refers to mainly as; creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, which differ greatly from the outcome of traditional methods of education. Despiste this discrepancy, this is the future! There are countless jobs beyond the mainstream professions due to advancements in technology. Are we effectively preparing our students for a successful future if they are not equipped with the skills needed to succeed in our current society?

White concludes his essay with an analogy, which I found really meaningful while also describing the constructivists method within curriculum. The analogy stems from a Greek philosopher and states ” [o]n those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other water flows”. He describes it it much better detail, but essentially, the river refers to education; a consistent, ever flowing process which we all stand in. But the water that is running through the river is consistently changing as time goes on. The river adapts to the water flowing through it, and education must adapt to the new requirements students need the curriculum to meet in order to find success.

White, L. A. (2021). Building Future-Ready Learners: Constructivism and Lesson Planning. Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education, 12(2).

file:///Users/hannahklassen/Downloads/Lawrence+White+10.pdf