How to Promote Meaningful Learning - Term Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages This paper will highlight challenges associated with implementing constructivism in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Much writing has been done about theories of constructivism and the connection to superior learning results; however, there is no "consolidated" discussion of the foundations, results, and practical issues of constructivism.

According to Marlowe and Page (1998), even when teachers recognize the value of and want to use constructivist approaches in their classrooms, their efforts often produce less than what they expected. There have been attempts to make constructivism operational so that classroom teachers can more rapidly apply constructivist theory to practice. The problem is that the application of constructivism in classrooms is "neither widespread nor systematic". Constructivist propositions can seem fairly simple but hundreds of observations of and questions from pre-service and in¬ service teachers over the past 10 years show that they are not. Teachers and administrators who already work with constructivist reform initiatives need guidelines to help with the implementation. Moreover, the development of a constructivist view of learning as a basis for instruction implies fundamental changes for most classroom teachers. Such a shift in beliefs about learning and learners has the potential to cause a redesign of classroom learning activities (Kaufman & Grennon Brooks, 1996), a redefinition of the roles of the teacher and the students (Prawat, 1990, 1992), a modification of the social climate, and the nature of classroom interaction (Brophy, 1998).  ...Download file to see next pagesRead More