Much as many approaches to learning have been advanced in literature, theories of learning can be categorized into three: social constructivist, cognitive constructivist, and behaviorist. Of the three approaches, the social constructivist model informs my educational initiative. The objective of this paper, consequently, is to describe the ideals of the social constructivist approach to learning. To attain the goal of the essay, the author divides the theory into four sections, which are its perspectives of knowledge, learning, motivation, and implications for teaching. Overall, the paper reports that the appropriateness of the theory for educational initiative is founded on its presumption that learning is a result of the social interactions of learners and their environment. The theory proposes that the levels of potential development are the levels at which learning happens. The process entails cognitive structures, which are undergoing maturation, but which could only mature in collaboration or guidance of others.
The Social Constructivism Perspective of Learning
Advanced by Lev Vygotsky, the social constructivist approach to learning stresses the collaborative nature of learning. Despite having been a cognitivist, Vygotsky refuted the idea that earlier theorists had developed, which argued that it was possible for one to separate the process of learning from its social context (Ormrod, 2008). The central idea of the theorist, therefore, was that all cognitive actions have an origin in—and should be described as products of—the social interactions. Vygotsky also assumed that learning does not simply entail the assimilation and retention of knowledge by the learners, and that learning was a procedure by which students integrate into knowledge communities (Powell & Kalina, 2009).
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The Perspective of Knowledge
Cognitive theories, such as Perry and Piaget, perceived knowledge as constructed actively by the learners as a way of responding to their interactions with environmental stimuli. Contrarily, it is imperative noting that Vygotsky’s work emphasized the critical role of culture and language in cognitive development. The latter theorist assumed that culture and language have fundamental roles both in the development of human intellectual abilities and in the way individuals view the world around them (Vygotsky, 1978). The linguistic abilities of humans, Vygotsky theorized, allow them to surpass the natural limitations defining their perceptual field through the imposition of culturally defined meaning and sense on their world. Consequently, according to the theory, culture and language are the primary frameworks by which people experience, comprehend, and communicate reality. Language, as well as the conceptual schemes that are propagated through language, are critical social phenomena. Resultantly, Vygotsky believed that human cognitive structures are always socially constructed, which means that knowledge is not simply constructed, but it is co-constructed (Powell & Kalina, 2009).
Perspective of Learning
Notably, Vygotsky agreed with a claim that Piaget had made earlier that students (learners for this case) do not respond to external stimuli, but they do so to their interpretation of such stimuli. As much as he was in consensus with this idea, Vygotsky contested that earlier theorists, including Piaget, had ignored the critical social nature of language (Ormrod, 2008). Consequently, he claimed that researchers who had come before him had failed to recognize the fact that learning was a collaborative process. In strengthening his argument, Vygotsky distinguished between two levels of development, which are actual and potential development. Precisely, he argued that the actual development level is that at which learners have already reached, and that it is the level at which they are able to solve problems independently. On the other hand, potential development, according to the theorist, refers to the level of development, which the learners are able to reach under the guidance that they their teachers would offer or in collaboration with their peers. The students have the ability of solving issues and comprehending material at the potential development level that they would not be able to do at the actual development level. Therefore, Vygotsky suggested that the potential development level is the level at which learning occurs. At this level, learning entails structures of cognition that are still undergoing maturation, but which can only attain maturity in collaboration with or under the guidance of others (Powell & Kalina, 2009).
The Perspective of Motivation
While behavioral motivation is primarily extrinsic, which entails negative and positive reinforcements; it is important to understand that cognitive motivation is mainly intrinsic—founded on the internal drive of the learner. The theory of social constructivism perceives motivation as both intrinsic and extrinsic. Since learning is primarily a social phenomenon, students are partly motivated by the rewards that the knowledge community provides (Vygotsky, 1978). Nevertheless, since knowledge is always constructed actively by the learner, the process of learning also relies significantly on the internal drive of the learners to comprehend and promote the process.
Implications for Teaching and Rationale for the Theory
Methods of collaborative learning demand that learners develop and nurture skills that foster teamwork and approach individual learning as the foundation to the success of group learning. Therefore, the rationale for the choice of the social constructivism theory is the fact that it orients students and teachers to develop useful social connections among each other. The theory informs that any useful learning initiative should ensure that students collaborate to understand what their teachers teach them. The model shifts the role of the teacher from being the source of knowledge to that of a guide who allows students to explore the environments around them and to learn things that they would never have achieved if the teacher was the source of knowledge. In such learning environments, therefore, it can be presumed that the learners will develop higher creativity levels than they would have done if they were learning in restrictive environments.
Supporting literature suggests that the optimal group size that would lead to effective group learning results is between four and five persons (Powell & Kalina, 2009). Because the mean section size is between ten and fifteen persons, it is important to note that methods collaborative learning usually demand GSIs to ensure that they break learners into smaller groups even though sections dealing with discussions are usually environments of collaborative learning. For example, within a group, the learners may be split into smaller groups that would be further required to select and research a topic from limited areas. The students would then be responsible for researching the topic before they present their findings to the rest of the class.
It is important for the teachers to note that collaborative learning processes should be perceived as procedures of peer interaction, which is structured and mediated for the teachers. Discussions could be enhanced through the presentation of specific scenarios, problems, and concepts—they are always directed by effectively directed questions, initiation and clarification of information and concepts as well as making reference to material that was learned in previous classes. Consequently, it can be adduced that the choice of the social constructivist theory is based on the fact that it fosters an environment in which students will assist each other to attain better levels of learning than they would have done if they were learning individually.
Conclusion
While there could be other theories that inform educational initiatives, the social constructivist approach has been favored in this paper. The theory, as the essay has described, is credited to the works of Lev Vygotsky who expressed concepts that were not in tandem with the works of theorists, especially the cognitivists, such as Piaget and Perry. Unlike the earlier theorists, Vygotsky argued that learning is a collaborative process that relies on the social interactions of learners and their environments. Based on the four categories that have been used in this paper, it is concluded that the theory’s view of knowledge is that it is constructed in the social contexts that allow students to interact with knowledge communities. The view of learning of the social constructivist theory is that learning is a process that entails an integration of students into communities of knowledge as well as collaborative assimilation and retention of new information. On the perspective of motivation, it should be understood that the theory indicates that educational initiatives should be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Lastly, on the implications for teaching, teachers should always understand the role that they should play in facilitating collaborative learning as well as facilitating group work. Consequently, the choice of the theory for the educational initiative is the fact that it shifts the role of the teacher from the source of knowledge to the facilitator of learning. Teachers should always be aware of the need to maintain the appropriate group sizes that would maximize on the development levels.
References
Ormrod, J. E. (2008). Human learning . Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall/Pearson Education International.
Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: developing tools for an i effective classroom. Education , 130 (2).
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
