School of Education

Assignment Two

Reflection

Fall 2020 Date: 11/12/2020

Course Title : Teaching Practice

Course Code : EDUC 660

Instructor : Dr. Chafica Mansour Gharbieh

Student : Raneem Awad

ID : 31130734

Campus : Beirut

Grade /20 :__________________

Comments :______________________________
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Constructivism was developed as a psychological learning theory and was further developed

by Vygotsky who was widely regarded as the father for social constructivism due to his theories

surrounding social interaction and human development. Vygotsky believed that the child’s

development relies on the idea that cognitive functions are the products of social interaction

(Greenwood, 2020). In the classroom, Children’s ability to construct their knowledge is highly

affected by the more knowledgeable other, teacher, and the methods of teaching applied.

Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism argues that children develop independently of

specific stages as a result of social interactions through community and language hence at the

inter psychological level. This development ideally happens in the “Zone of Proximal

Development”. First, there is what the child can do independently, and then there is the ZPD,

which represents what the child can do by the help of the “More Knowledgeable Other”, be it an

adult, a friend, technology, and last, there is what is beyond the child’s reach. Thus Vygotsky’s

theory emphasize that inside the ZPD, learning can precede development and a child is able to

learn skills that goes beyond his natural maturity (Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development,

2020). In his theory of Social constructivism, Vygotsky see “knowledge as actively constructed

by learners in response to interactions with environmental stimuli” (McLeod,2018) thus

emphasizing on the role of language, communication and culture in cognitive development. The

child’s cognitive development is stemmed from these social interactions in the classroom

through guided learning within the ZPD as children and their teachers co-construct knowledge

shaping how they think and what they think about. Conversation is a key element in the social

constructive theory. Teachers should encourage a helpful conversation in the classroom in order

for children to complete tasks that conclude in a discussion with their peers as well as the
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teacher. Maintaining an environment of good communication will empower students to question

and self-assess their work and reflect on others in a respectful manner.

The role of the teacher in building a constructive atmosphere in the classroom is highly

affected by children’s needs and give them the freedom to construct knowledge for themselves.

Teachers should design their classroom to demonstrate intersubjectivity, scaffolding in order to

support the children in their gradual understanding of tasks, and guided participation in order to

build up student-centered pedagogy. Through Scaffolding, a teacher helps children build on a

skill that they already have by giving them enough support to get to the next step of proficiency

in order to build up block by block to reach the top and successfully complete a learning goal.

Teachers should encourage team work and collaboration, organize discussions and debates and

provide suitable opportunities for group work and peer assessment. Guided participation

encompasses scaffolding through letting children learn through engaging activities and

experiences alongside the teacher whose feedback and hints gradually diminishes as the children

is actively participating in the activity in order to accomplish it independently Thus children

utilize their prior knowledge along with their experiences in the activities with the teacher to

explore and build on ideas. An example to guided participation could be the child’s learning to

read by sounding out words or to tie his shoes.

A contemporary education application of Vygotsky’s theory is through constructive

pedagogy. Reciprocal teaching also called the “Fab Four” is used to improve the children’s

ability to learn and comprehend from text. “In this method, teachers and students collaborate in

learning and practicing four key skills: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting.”

(Mcleod, 2018). Using these skills in introducing a book for the children, for example, a teacher

would be prompt to ask the children open-ended question in order for the student to build up
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such skills. Another pedagogy would be “Situated Learning”, which claims that children are

more inclined to learn by actively participating in the learning experience through creating

meaning from real activities of daily living relative to the teaching environment (NIU,2012).

Field trips, cooperative education, internship experiences, music, sports, and other activities

which replicate actual real world situations to encourage children to actively be immersed in a

social community boosting their problem solving skills in order to tap their prior knowledge and

challenge others in their community. A third method of teaching would be “Anchored

Instruction” that is a technology-based learning approach, which stresses on the importance of

placing learning within a meaningful, problem-solving context (Anchored Instruction (John

Bransford),2018). Learning activities should be designed around case-study or problem situation

to allow children to explore and investigate. Incorporating the film “Young Sherlock Holmes”,

for instance, as an interactive method and asking the children to examine in terms of motives of

the characters, authenticity of the setting and others aspects would provide the anchor for

understanding of storytelling and a particular historical era (Anchored Instruction (John

Bransford),2018).

According to the theory of social constructivism, children development highly depends on

language and the social community. With the guidance of the “More Knowledgeable Other”,

these children are able to construct skills and knowledge, hence the role of the teacher in

designing a constructive classroom is immense yet intervention is diminutive and effective.

Assessing children’s constructed knowledge could be in terms of presentations, case studies,

reflective journals, portfolios and group-based projects in order to boost children’s development

and thrive in the future with compatible life skills.

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REFERENCES

Anchored Instruction (John Bransford). (2018, November 30). InstructionalDesign.Org.

https://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/anchored-instruction/
Greenwood, B. (2020, March 06). Understanding Pedagogy—What is Social
Constructivism? Retrieved November 11, 2020, from
https://blog.teamsatchel.com/understanding-pedagogy-what-is-social-constructivism
McLeod, S. A. (2018, August 05). Lev Vygotsky. Simply Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2012).
Situated learning. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved
from http://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guide/instructional-guide
Social Constructivism & Activity Theory. (2016, July 26).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJxFzL-2xPQ
Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development: How Relationships Increase Learning.
(2020, February 28). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I2hrSRbmHE