Constructivism and Positivism: Contrasting Two Educational Methods - Essay Example

?Contrast Contrasting Two Educational Methods February 6, Introduction The two readings by Hodkinson & Macleod and Gage are two very similar teaching methodologies that lead us to various different ways of learning and teaching. In the readings the turbulent decades of education were studied. Arguments were stated in many discussions and debates on who had the best learning and teaching methods. The readings also showed how learning and teaching has changed through the years, but still stays the same. Two methodologies will be covered in this paper and they are Constructivism and Positivism. Constructivism To begin one must understand the theory of constructivism and positivism. Constructivism is a part of developmental psychology and its’ focus is on thinking and learning and the individual is an active tool in this process. The question of constructivism is how the individual engages himself or herself in the cognitive process. (Ornstein, 1998) Constructivism is a method that includes psychology, sociology, linguistics, and philosophy. Knowledge is constructed and they participate in social realms and that creates meaning through various thinking processes used by teachers and students. The reality that they (the constructivists) create is subjective rather than objective. The overall goal of this theory is to get students to be active in learning. Meaning and participation is very important in the classroom. New learning is always happening and making connections with previous learning in class and other prior experiences. Constructivists believe in the old and the new ways of learning. They believe in forming awareness of what is around them. In this method meta-cognition and constructivist thinking go hand in hand for all thinking follows certain procedures that can and do create knowledge, regulate knowledge and utilize this knowledge. According to Gage constructivists could believe in the scientific method while making adjustments to what is learned in and out of the classroom. Constructivists reshape or transform the information that is learned. Consideration and reflection on ideas as we construct reality so that we can understand it better. This agrees with the ant-naturalists theme except one cannot control or predict how teaching and learning progresses. In the years of the 60’s and 70’s the classrooms were big on experiments and sharing and how will this learning be used by the student in the classroom and the community and how the meaning that we were suppose to learn from other accumulated knowledge. This idea goes on to say why we do not just learn our lessons by rote and why do we have to analyze it for finding our own ideas. Everything is reality-based. According to Gage and the Interpretative critique he wondered if objectivity and various interpretations of ideas and theories actually did work together and agrees with Hodkinson and Macleod study. This is when classroom management ideas were starting to be present and teachers were starting to become accountable for all learning in the schools and the community. Classrooms were starting to use the three learning domains of learning. These domains are the Cognitive domain, the Affective domain, and the Psychomotor domain. In other terms it means thinking, feeling and doing. Teachers and students were still able to make their own interpretations, but we were able to state our opinions on some of what we were learning. We still had to learn the rules or the basics before moving on to more advanced thinking. In the critical analysts’ view of learning and teaching along with Hodkinson and Macleod, education is to be efficient, rational, and objective. Under this view power, motivation and change were the key words in the field of education. In dealing with the curriculum, knowledge and teaching and how the social structure changes with what we learn and teach. Education is about learning structure and meaning for you must know the basics, but you will need to make adjustments to what is learned to fit your life. You need to see how other diversities fit into the classroom and what is taught in that room. In the classrooms of this time period you had to be careful about discrimination issues and still working with the whole group or with individual instruction. In the classroom it is up to the teacher to understand, formulate, present, explain and discuss the content that is used in the classroom. Teachers need to work within other fields and that teaching is an interdisciplinary field. Learning in the classroom is more than behaviors it is about learning perspective in the lessons taught. Teachers are supposed to provide insight, understanding, have a predictive power and control to improve teaching. We learn to improve by our mistakes. In the 60’s and the 70’s learning and teaching in the classroom was a mixture of rote learning and values. Education had a positivity, establishmentarism, mainstream facet in what teaching is supposed to be for our children. Positivism A Positivist view of education is one using experiences and the knowledge we produce. We are not isolated from the world. According to Dewey, subject matter and an individual’s experiences are a part of one’s reality. (Ornstein. 1998) We all modify knowledge through their experiences. In the decades of the 60’s and the 70’s education is a humanistic design, which comes to the decade of the 80’s classrooms become subject focused. Education is still meant to be meaningful, but still must be disciplined where the major academic subjects are taught like Science, Mathematics, English and History. A discipline is a specific knowledge base and that education is not to be individualized to fit just one student’s needs. It is to teach the rules of school and the community. When the decades of the 60’s, 70’s and the 80’s all these methods were being used in the classrooms and the teacher must determine which method would work best for them and the class. In the decade of the 60’s and especially the decade of the 70’s this was a time of non-directive and therapeutic learning and value clarification. Hodkinson and Macleod believed that education is supposed to be orderly. In the style the teacher should be aware that the level and kind of response to particular experience will differ among children. This style is purely individualistic and their behaviors whether they are confused or get meaning from what is taught. Education in the 60’s, 70’s and the 80’s were decades of process learning. There was a freedom to learn with no preplanned activities or if they were planned the teacher could make the necessary changes to fit with the needs of the present class, because what worked in the earlier decades just was not enough for the future generations. In these decades the classroom was also to build social skills along with the academic skills. The students were allowed to explore their interests. Choices were allowed to be made and creativity was a big part of education and so was self-realization. The environment, education and personality of the teachers and students that will Improve purpose and still be productive and be a positive fit in the community will depend on the teacher and the student in the classroom. Moral development and action learning were a large part of affective learning or positivistic learning. All educational methodologies agree that learning and teaching is all about meeting our educational, social and emotional needs. We all must be satisfied in the knowledge we receive to be a proper member of the community. Education is a human thing just not numbers and letters. Education is physical and psychological. Education is and will meet our cognitive, affective and psychomotor needs. It is up to the teacher and the students to find out and see what works in a particular classroom(s). Education and teaching as mentioned earlier a mix of all methodologies that are learned. Education is how a whole person is made in an intellectual manner. My View on Educational Methodologies Education is a mix and it is up to the teacher to see what works in the classroom. Sometimes I think Gage had the right idea in researching the Anti-naturalist movement, interpretative movement and the Critical Theorist movement. When I was a student in elementary school, middle school, high school and even college it seems that the teachers followed as mentioned in the first part a mix of methodologies. In elementary school I do remember teachers teaching lessons that got us out of our seats and moving. We still did seat work, but we also did creative projects as well. We did various independent projects and these projects sometimes took weeks. During this time in our early years of school we still had to show that we were learning for the administrators would come into the classroom and administrate various achievement tests. This would go along with how the Scientific Method is used in the school system of learning and teaching. These tests give the teachers and the administrators a chance to make adjustments in order to find better ways to teach the subjects currently offered. These tests were also to find out if any other type of social and educational program could be developed to improve learning. Control in the classroom is also important one must not be too strict or too permissive. One must look from the point of view of the students and the teachers to see what progress is being made in their field and their classrooms and to see how they can apply new ideas with the old ideas that still work. I remember how my teachers would have to make many interpretations and how will the stay objective when they had to combat many different behaviors of the students and still teach the subjects and be able to understand how to use new methodologies in the classroom and still be able to fulfill all the needs of the class. According to the Critical theorists one must be efficient and objective. The teachers were organized for the teachers I had followed the three domains of education. They used the cognitive domain and they made sure we used our thinking skills. They came up with ideas to use the affective domain, and if I remember correctly this was mainly in Health units and Social Studies and sometimes in Reading Groups. There could have been other times, but that is when teachers would make the necessary adjustments to their classrooms. In working with Control one must remember that structure and meaning works together. I remember even though there were not many, but there was beginning to be other children different from myself. This was a time in my middle school and high school years there were children of different ethnicities and mainstreaming was just starting to happen. Special education students were slowly coming into the regular classroom and I remember back in elementary school there was only one room in the basement of the school and even then there were only maybe six students present in that program. At this time in the education fields teachers had to understand, formulate, present, explain and be able to discuss all aspects of learning and bring down to whatever content level that they were teaching that year. I also remember seeing teachers that I had in one grade is now teaching another grade. I remember when I was a Education major you did study all grades and you may only want one or two particular grade levels, but you had to be prepared to teach all grades much like they did in the days of the one-room school house. This also brings about the idea of the interdisciplinary school teacher. This is what Nathanial Gage was getting at in his study. The teachers and the students had to learn what values were all about and to show us what is right and wrong. I think at this time of the 60’s, 70’s and the 80’s no one was really sure what is right and wrong and the parents thought that they could have the schools help them in this area. Teachers, parents and the students want education to be a positive experience for everyone involved. All who are involved in teaching and learning must meet the standards presented. Power and motivation is a big thing in education even at this time in working with educational methodologies. Teacher and parents should try to always work together, but it is up to the teacher to carry the ball to bring understanding to everyone. There is one question that teachers seemed to ask “How can I do it all?” They had to be a counselor, first responder, teacher, clerical worker and general monitor of the classroom. At this time I remember when the teacher would let the students do various jobs in the classroom, for example I remember having various classroom jobs. I was a teacher’s aide at one time, classroom housekeeper, and paper checker. The students would take turns with the various classroom assignments. This was also a classroom management technique for the teacher to keep students at least at the elementary level for various behaviors that could affect the classroom environment. My education it seemed to be action-oriented. Education is meant to be a building of life skills. Conclusion Teaching and learning is all about finding a methodology that works for you. The one that works for you as the teacher must be interdisciplinary. The class will learn through various objectives and learning domains. Teachers must believe in action if they are to do their job in a correct and positive attitude. One must be motivated and show that they have the power to teach and bring understanding to basic skills and values. Reference Ornstein, Allan C. & Hunkins, Francis P. Curriculum Foundations, Principles, and Issues. Third Edition; Allyn and Bacon Publishers (1998) Read More