Constructivism as the Philosophy of Education I. The Origin of Constructivism Originally, constructivism is a part of cognitive revolution. It is not a new approach.

It is rooted from philosophy just like sociology, ethnography and cognitive psychology. Cognitive revolution began in the 19 !s and increasingly deliberated in the late 19"!s. #he term $cognitive revolution% began to be used to take advantage of an analysis of scientific revolution in general that was developed by #homas &uhn '(oyer, )!! *. +ollowing this analysis, cognitive revolution has impact on education. Constructivism is an anti,thesis of idealism. Idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial 'www.wikipedia.com,,*. -pistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind,independent thing. #hus, constructivism is far from what is proposed by idealism. Constructivism let the knowledge developed by the thinker, it cannot be limited by only an ideology that is stated, but a knowledge can be constructed and modified based on the view of the constructor. .eside that, constructivism is also the anti,thesis of progressivism. /rogressivists believe that individuality, progress, and change are fundamental to one0s education. 1ohn 2eweys '19)!,19 !0s* states that $-ducation is life itself%. It is believed that people learn best from what they consider most relevant to their lives, progressivists center their curricula on the needs, e3periences, interests, and abilities of students. In short, progressivism makes learners to reconstruct e3periences related to the needs and interests of the learners. 4nlike progressivism, contructivism let the learners not only reconstruct e3periences but also create a new ideas related to the e3priences. .eside that, constructivists believe that learners should not only construct knowledge that they interest to, but they should create ideas about knowledge that they e3perience.

II. The Basic Concept of Constructivism Constructivists believe that knowledge is the result of individual constructions of reality. +rom their perspective, learning occurs through continual creation of rules and hypotheses to e3plain what is observed. #o create new rules and formulate, new

hypotheses occurs when student0s present conception of reality are thrown out of balance by disparities between those conceptions and new observation '1..rooks, 199!, p"5*. 6iambatista 7ico is one of the early constructivist philosophers, who said, $8 One only know something if one can e3plain it% '9ager, 1999* #his idea becomes rarely known by people as if it is lost. #hen 1ean /iaget tried to continue the idea of constructivism, particularly in the learning process. /iaget0s idea is spreading and growing faster than the idea of 7ico. /hilosophy of constructivism can be classified into philosophy of knowledge, part of the philosophy that :uestioned some issues of knowledge and how we can know something. #oday the philosophy of constructivism has influenced the development of education, especially in the learning process. Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP*, which is applied since )!!";)!!<, actually has roots in the concept of this philosophy. In the philosophical concept of constructivism, knowledge can not be transferred directly by a teacher to pupils. #he knowledge which is gained by students is actually not any insight that is created by others, but it is built by the pupils themselves '.asuki, )!1!*. =eanwhile, the basic idea underlying the philosophy of constructivism is that the knowledge is the result of the construction 'formation* itself because human knowledge can not simply be transferred from one to another, but should be interpreted solely by each person '>uparno, 199<*. &nowledge is not something that ready,made but a process that is constantly evolved. In this case, the activeness and seriousness of the students in pursuing the knowledge is very needed. &nowledge construction process runs continuously followed by re,organi?ation process because of new comprehension always arise '/iaget, 19<1 in >uparno, 199<*. @ science will become a science after e3periencing a long process which becomes a standard for humans to be used in their education life. .efore being a standard, a knowledge is improved which is called as the process of reorgani?ation of knowledge in the form of redefinition, stabili?ation and science concepts that are relatively standard. @ccording to the philosophy of constructivism, a knowledge that is constructed can be said to be true when it is used in dealing with the various phenomena and issues related to knowledge.

=ain ideas of constructivism areA B Cearning is an active process of construction of new ideas. B Cearning is more student,centered rather than teacher,centered. B #he teacher0s role is as facilitator and assistant. B Cearning is a process,oriented. B #he curriculum is based on social formation. B 2emocratic and cooperative learning should be prioriti?ed. -mphasis on social sciences and process. III. SWOT Analysis of the Constructivism Dere is the authors0 critical analysis of the philosophy of constructivism using >EO# analysis modelA F.1 >EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $ Cearning is an active process of construction of new ideas.% B >trengths #he learning process stimulates the creativity of the learners to create new things. B Eeaknesses It will lead to misunderstanding if the learner cannot get the correct concept of what is decided as the truth. B Opportunities Innovation in education in the era of globali?ation nowadays allows learners to construct something that they can be globali?ed, thereby creating a useful concept for global life. B #hreats #here will many thoughts that come from each person and will be difficult to decide the standard concept of a knowledge. F.) >EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $Cearning is more student,centered rather than teacher,centered.% B >trengths #he students can get more attentions. B Eeaknesses #he control of the class will be more difficult rather than when the control is under teacher0s hand.

B Opportunities It practices the students0 independence and responsibility in gaining and forming ideas. B #hreats #he students sometime do not know what to do and they do not understand a concept clearly, so the achievement of the learning process may failed. F.F >EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $#he teacher0s role is as facilitator and assistant.% B >trengths #he learners can get some help from the teacher during the process of constructing the knowledge B Eeaknesses #he role of the teacher seems to be minimum during the process of teaching and learning. B Opportunities #he learners will be more agressive and active in gaining further information, thus they will get better understanding about the knowledge. B #hreats #he e3istence of teacher will not much needed. F.G >EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $Cearning is a process,oriented.% B >trengths It motivate the learners to do their best during the learning process. B Eeaknesses It will be difficult to decide the learner0s individual assessment because during the process of learning, a learner always interact with each other learners that are also involved in the process of learning. B Opportunities #he learners feel eunthusiast to follow the process of learning. B #hreats #here may no any respect or eunthusiasm in following an individual test because result is not :uiet important anymore.

F.

>EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $#he curriculum is based on social B >trengths #he adaptation to society0s need will be easier. B Eeaknesses >ocial formation can be changed anytime, it will affect badly to the consistency of the curriculum. B Opportunities #he output of the learning process may be useful for the society. B #hreats #here no any standard curriculum that can be used for long terms.

formation.%

F." >EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $2emocratic and cooperative learning should be prioriti?ed.% B >trengths #he learners can have more chances to be listened. B Eeaknesses #here will be many thoughts which may lead to bias. B Opportunities #he democratic atmosphere in a cooperative setting allows to tell their thoughts bravely. B #hreats .ias information regarding to a concept of the knowledge. F.< >EO# @nalysis toward the main ideaA $-mphasis on social sciences and process.% B >trengths Cearner is guided to a systematic structure of knowledge. B Eeaknesses #he inconsistency of the social process leads to inconsistency of the concept that is created by learners. B Opportunities #he knowledge is updated anytime according to the rate and route of the social science and process. B #hreats (esults of tests are not :uite important anymore.

I . Implication of Constructivism to Teaching and !earning Process Constructivism is as one of the learning theories besides behavorism, cognitivism, etc. #here will be a :uestion about how constructivism impacts learning. Dere are what 1ac:ueline and =artin .rooks said about the impacts of constructivism toward learning. 1. Curriculum Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardi?ed curriculum. Instead, it promotes using curricula customi?ed to the students0 prior knowledge. @lso, it emphasi?es hands,on problem solving. CO=/-#-HC9,.@>-2 C4((IC4C4= 'C.C* is the appropriate one to be employed. ). Instruction 4nder the concept of constructivism, educator focuses on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to students responses and encourage students to analy?e interpret, and predict information. #eachers also rely heavily on open,ended :uestions and promote e3tensive dialogue among students. F. @ssessment Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardi?ed testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress. #he application of classroom assessment and authentic assessment are recommended according to the principles of constructivism. "eferences# .asuki, =arkus. )!1!. Aliran-aliran Dalam Filsafat Ilmu: Filsafat Konstruktivisme . http#$$cor%amorem.&logspot.com$'()($()$filsafat%*onstru*tivisme.html. downloaded on October, )!11. =udyahardjo (edja. 1995. /engantar /endidikanA Sebuah Studi Awal Tentang Dasardasar Pendidikan ada !mumn"a dan Pendidikan di Indonesia# (ajawali /ers. 1akarta >uparno, /aul. 199<. Filsafat Konstruktivisme Dalam Pendidikan. 9ogyakartaA &anisius. ,,,,,,,,,,. , . Idealism. httpA;;en.wikipedia.org;wiki;Idealism. (etrieved on 1anuary )", )!1). ,,,,,,,,,,. ,. $du%ational Philoso h"# httpA;;oregonstate.edu;instruct;edG1";//F.html. (etrieved on 1anuary )", )!1).

Constructivism as the Philosophy of Education

.yA +i !uh ,ede -ian Pondi*a Cahyaningsih +I.. ))'/())(00

Canguage >tudy /rogram ConcentrationA -nglish /ost,6raduate /rogram 4niversitas /endidikan 6anesha 2enpasar )!1)