Orientation of Higher Secondary Teachers on Social Constructivism,
Critical Pedagogy and Issue-based
Theoretical Underpinnings of Social Constructivism
• Problematizing knowledge as a whole
• Methodological approaches must be more circumspect and reflexive
• Concern for the learner’s cognitions, beliefs, and conceptions of knowledge
• Concern for the teacher’s belief, conceptions, and personal theories about subject matter, teaching and learning
• Acknowledging that others have realities that are independent of ours
• Pedagogical emphasis on discussion, negotiation and shared meanings
Characteristics of Constructivism
• Multiple perspectives and representations of concepts and content
• Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in negotiation with the teacher or system
• Teachers as guides, monitors, coaches, tutors and facilitators ( and as social engineers)
• Activities, opportunities and tools for encouraging meta-cognition, self-analysis, regulation, reflection and awareness
• Central role of learners in mediating and controlling learning
• Authentic representations of the natural complexities of the ‘real world’
• Using primary sources of data for ensuring authenticity and real world complexity
• Emphasis on Knowledge construction, not reproduction
• Knowledge construction in individual contexts and through social negotiation, collaboration and experience
Constructivism (Cont’d)
• The learner’s previous knowledge constructions, beliefs and attitudes are considered in the knowledge construction process
• Emphasis on problem-solving, higher-order thinking skills and deep understanding
• Errors give insight into students’ previous knowledge constructions
• Encouraging students to seek knowledge independently and collectively
• Learners are provided with the opportunity for apprenticeship
• Emphasis on conceptual interrelatedness and interdisciplinary learning
• Favouring collaborative and cooperative learning
• Scaffolding for helping the learners perform just beyond the limits of their ability
• Assessment is authentic and interwoven with teaching
Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism
• Emphasis on the role of the greater community and the role of significant others in learning
• Learning is first interpersonal, between the child and the external and then becomes intrapersonal
• The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the individual potential of an individual when provided with assistance from a knowledgeable adult or a more advanced child
Collaborative Classroom: The Characteristics
• Shared knowledge among teachers and students
• Shared authority among teachers and students
• Teachers as mediators
• Heterogeneous grouping of students
Why Issue-based Curriculum
• Knowledge construction and the construction of society are complementary processes; the teacher has to facilitate both (teacher as a social engineer)
• Knowledge is constructed through creatively intervening in social issues
• Today’s children are not citizens of tomorrow, they are citizens of today itself
• Identifying and executing one’s own intellectual responsibility and well as social responsibility
• Promoting learner autonomy
• Representing the grim realities of life in the
TLM
The Issue Domains Addressed by the Curriculum
• Lack of cohesive vision on the concept of universal human being
• Lack of proper development of human labour
• Lack of awareness about one’s cultural identity and its free development
• Lack of vision about agriculture as a cultural form
• Lack of scientific vision on health and community health
• Lack of consideration for the marginalized
• Lack of proper management of water and land resources
• Lack of eco-friendly industrialization and urbanization
On Critical Pedagogy
The primary preoccupation of Critical Pedaogy is with social injustice and how to transform inequitable, undemocratic, or oppressive institutions and social relations
Critical Pedagogy (Cont’d)
• a social and educational vision of justice and equality should ground all education
• issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and physical ability are all important domains of oppression and critical anti-hegemonic action.
• the alleviation of oppression and human suffering is a key dimension of educational purpose
• schools must not hurt students--good schools don't blame students for their failures or strip students of the knowledges they bring to the classroom
• all positions including critical pedagogy itself must be problematized and questioned
• the professionalism of teachers must be respected and part of the role of any educator involves becoming a scholar and a researcher
• education must both promote emancipatory change and the cultivation of the intellect--these goals should never be in conflict, they should be synergistic
• the politics of knowledge and issues of epistemology are central to understanding the way power operates in educational institutions to perpetuate privilege and to subjugate the marginalized.
• education often reflects the interests and needs of new modes of colonialism and empire. Such dynamics must be exposed, understood, and acted upon as part of critical transformative praxis.
Theoretical Underpinnings of Social Constructivism
• Problematizing knowledge as a whole
• Methodological approaches must be more circumspect and reflexive
• Concern for the learner’s cognitions, beliefs, and conceptions of knowledge
• Concern for the teacher’s belief, conceptions, and personal theories about subject matter, teaching and learning
• Acknowledging that others have realities that are independent of ours
• Pedagogical emphasis on discussion, negotiation and shared meanings
Characteristics of Constructivism
• Multiple perspectives and representations of concepts and content
• Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in negotiation with the teacher or system
• Teachers as guides, monitors, coaches, tutors and facilitators ( and as social engineers)
• Activities, opportunities and tools for encouraging meta-cognition, self-analysis, regulation, reflection and awareness
• Central role of learners in mediating and controlling learning
• Authentic representations of the natural complexities of the ‘real world’
• Using primary sources of data for ensuring authenticity and real world complexity
• Emphasis on Knowledge construction, not reproduction
• Knowledge construction in individual contexts and through social negotiation, collaboration and experience
Constructivism (Cont’d)
• The learner’s previous knowledge constructions, beliefs and attitudes are considered in the knowledge construction process
• Emphasis on problem-solving, higher-order thinking skills and deep understanding
• Errors give insight into students’ previous knowledge constructions
• Encouraging students to seek knowledge independently and collectively
• Learners are provided with the opportunity for apprenticeship
• Emphasis on conceptual interrelatedness and interdisciplinary learning
• Favouring collaborative and cooperative learning
• Scaffolding for helping the learners perform just beyond the limits of their ability
• Assessment is authentic and interwoven with teaching
Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism
• Emphasis on the role of the greater community and the role of significant others in learning
• Learning is first interpersonal, between the child and the external and then becomes intrapersonal
• The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the individual potential of an individual when provided with assistance from a knowledgeable adult or a more advanced child
Collaborative Classroom: The Characteristics
• Shared knowledge among teachers and students
• Shared authority among teachers and students
• Teachers as mediators
• Heterogeneous grouping of students
Why Issue-based Curriculum
• Knowledge construction and the construction of society are complementary processes; the teacher has to facilitate both (teacher as a social engineer)
• Knowledge is constructed through creatively intervening in social issues
• Today’s children are not citizens of tomorrow, they are citizens of today itself
• Identifying and executing one’s own intellectual responsibility and well as social responsibility
• Promoting learner autonomy
• Representing the grim realities of life in the
TLM
The Issue Domains Addressed by the Curriculum
• Lack of cohesive vision on the concept of universal human being
• Lack of proper development of human labour
• Lack of awareness about one’s cultural identity and its free development
• Lack of vision about agriculture as a cultural form
• Lack of scientific vision on health and community health
• Lack of consideration for the marginalized
• Lack of proper management of water and land resources
• Lack of eco-friendly industrialization and urbanization
On Critical Pedagogy
The primary preoccupation of Critical Pedaogy is with social injustice and how to transform inequitable, undemocratic, or oppressive institutions and social relations
Critical Pedagogy (Cont’d)
• a social and educational vision of justice and equality should ground all education
• issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and physical ability are all important domains of oppression and critical anti-hegemonic action.
• the alleviation of oppression and human suffering is a key dimension of educational purpose
• schools must not hurt students--good schools don't blame students for their failures or strip students of the knowledges they bring to the classroom
• all positions including critical pedagogy itself must be problematized and questioned
• the professionalism of teachers must be respected and part of the role of any educator involves becoming a scholar and a researcher
• education must both promote emancipatory change and the cultivation of the intellect--these goals should never be in conflict, they should be synergistic
• the politics of knowledge and issues of epistemology are central to understanding the way power operates in educational institutions to perpetuate privilege and to subjugate the marginalized.
• education often reflects the interests and needs of new modes of colonialism and empire. Such dynamics must be exposed, understood, and acted upon as part of critical transformative praxis.
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