Social Constructivism

[There is] "...the person who starts off with a pool of ideas that they really understand, they then come to a new idea, and then sort of embed that new idea in the old idea. And it carries on going on and on and on and it gets bigger, bigger and bigger."

- John Abbott

Below is a video on social constructivism in the classroom.

I find that with group assignments, ideas that I never would begin to think of are created from others. Everyone has different opinions and ideas, and therefore, when doing group work, more ideas are developed compared to doing something on your own. One person's thought could also help you think of something relating to their point. It opens up new ideas. In drama, for example, we needed to construct a play based on a script we read. Everyone had different interpretations of the meanings in the play. Whenever someone stated an idea, either someone agreed or disagreed. Working together also enables you to see things from other people's point of view.  You develop your own understanding and explanation first, and then other ideas from other people come into play. Working on your own, however, enables you to think for yourself and purely focus on how your past experiences link to that topic.

In a classroom, social constructivism is when students understand new information from what they think of themselves. They either work on their own, with people, or a mix of both. For instance, if students are asked to create a project on dinosaurs, one person who is by themselves, may think of the characteristics of a dinosaur, whereas the other person may be thinking of what the dinosaur eats. The student working on their own gathers their own points from what they already know or have learnt previously. When group work is introduced, then the student becomes aware of other perspectives and ideas. However for the beginning of a topic, students should develop their own ideas first. Philosopher Jean Piaget's theory is that "...children needed to construct an understanding of the world for themselves." (Howell, 2012, p. 23). After the topic is understood, then students can collaborate with other peers and brainstorm some points. Students not only learn from themselves, but also from those around them. The more ideas created, the more of an understanding the students will have on that topic. The same sort of construct applies for teachers as well. They are given a plan of what they should teach and how it is taught. Author Kaya Yilmaz describes that, "... an educator is expected to understand the educational theory or theories behind a given instructional framework to gain success..." (Yilmaz, 2008, p. 161) Just like students, teachers have to reach the goal of explaining something to students. The students then show how they understand.  Ideas are first developed from the one person's experiences or what has been learnt previously, then more ideas are expanded from other people.