Constructivism According to Theorists:
Constructivism is a concept that has been around for century's and has been supported by individuals such as ;
John Dewey- an American psychologist, philosopher and educator
Jean Piaget- believed that a child constructs understanding through many channels; reading, listening, exploring and experiencing his/ her environment
Lev Vygotsky- a Russian psychologist and philosopher who believed that the influences of cultural and social contexts played an important part in learning and supports a discovery model of learning
Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development 
Blooms Taxonomy Constructivism is child centred learning, rather than curriculum based, it is about the knowledge construction and not about the reconstruction or regurgitation of what is taught in a curriculum based classroom. Teachers are flexible they are facilitators no longer having the title as teacher collaboratively working along side the students who are constantly exploring their environment.
Social Constructivism in a School Age Program:
For a more visual perception of what social constructivism looks like in the classroom, here is a video to help better explain what it looks like.
The main activity that occurs in a constructivist classroom is solving problems, students use inquiry methods to ask questions, investigate a topic, and use a variety of resources to find solutions and answers. As students explore the topic, they draw conclusions, and, as exploration continues, they revisit those conclusions. Exploration of questions leads to more questions.
(http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism_in_the_Classroom)
This is a break down of what constructivism looks like in the classroom compared to a traditional classroom.
Principles of Learning through a Constructivist thought that educators must keep in mind:
1. Learning is an active process in which the learner uses sensory input and constructs meaning out of it. The more traditional formulation of this idea involves the terminology of the active learner (Dewey's term) stressing that the learner needs to do something; that learning is not the passive acceptance of knowledge which exists "out there" but that learning involves the learner s engaging with the world. 7
2. People learn to learn as they learn: learning consists both of constructing meaning and constructing systems of meaning. 3. The crucial action of constructing meaning is mental: it happens in the mind. Physical actions, hands-on experience may be necessary for learning, especially for children, but it is not sufficient; we need to provide activities which engage the mind as well as the hands.9 (Dewey called this reflective activity.)4. Learning involves language: the language we use influences learning. On the empirical level. researchers have noted that people talk to themselves as they learn. On a more general level. there is a collection of arguments, presented most forcefully by Vigotsky, that language and learning are inextricably intertwined. 10 5. Learning is a social activity: our learning is intimately associated with our connection with other human beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances, including the people before us or next to us at the exhibit. 6. Learning is contextual: we do not learn isolated facts and theories in some abstract ethereal land of the mind separate from the rest of our lives: we learn in relationship to what else we know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fears. 7. One needs knowledge to learn: it is not possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some structure developed from previous knowledge to build on. 148. It takes time to learn: learning is not instantaneous. For significant learning we need to revisit ideas, ponder them try them out, play with them and use them. 9. Motivation is a key component in learning.
A Visual Representation of the Classroom:
This video shows the transformation of a traditional classroom, to a more constructivist classroom allowing the children to greater possibilities with their learning and exploration.
My View:
As an educator I believe that the social constructivist approach in the classroom is very effective and beneficial to children in their learning. As I have experienced it myself within my own learning as it happens in my own post secondary classes. Being given the chance and freedom in exploring theories, and teaching methods by actually doing them within the classroom amongst fellow classmates, it has us all engaged and learning off each other with our professors being there to facilitate our learning when necessary.
Children should be given the opportunity to learn with no boundaries, or in our case a less curriculum based approach. having them learning off one another, and within their own natural environments makes it more effective to them in the long run, making connections to their daily lives. Children have a sense of independence as well as individuality, the teachers are putting a lot of trust into the students as well as seeing them as an equal within the classroom. When children are given that opportunity to make their choices and have more control, what they come up with will amaze an adult/ educator in a way children open our own eyes to endless learning possibilities.
These are a few pictures to show how constructivism happens within my own classroom when experimenting with light.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG){kind=link}