Constructivism Portfolio Kgnelso0 Wixsite Com

Leo Migdal

-Nov 21, 2025, 2:05 PM

constructivism portfolio kgnelso0 wixsite com

The IB Curriculum is of a constructivist paradigm. As constructivists, we acknowledge that there are mulitiple ways of knowing. As stated by J.W. Creswell in Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, & Mixed Method Approaches, a socially constructed claim would be that as humans we "make sense of their world based on historical and social perspectives in our culture"... In the IB curriculum, the learning is focused on student discovery and inquriy. The teacher acts as a facilitator and guide urging students to question and make meaning out of their own experiences.

It is not "here is what you need to know"; it is "What are your questions? What did you learn through your inquiry and experience?" Through a 3-2-1 protocol we expanded our understanding and questions about constructivism: How can students have more voice in constructing knowledge? What is the role of the teacher in a constructivism classroom? Teaching and learning in the IB can be seen through three key components: Inquiry, Action, Reflection.

These three components act together as a constructivist approach through which students learn and the many ways people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world around them. In a small group we were asked to look at action and how that might look in our classroom. This turned in to a very meaningful conversation between myself and my two colleagues. Each of us were from a different content area and it was interesting to see how we could each apply the concept of action in our classrooms. We looked at what the IB’s view is on action, which is to teach and learn through practical, real-world experience, and generated ideas on how that looks across the curriculum. We did this by following a Microlabs protocol (see left) which has the participants answer questions followed by sharing their responses.

Below are my responses for the protocol: Action- I’ve learned this, now I’m driven to do this I think that my students could work with Spanish speaking ELL students or help families of students in out school corporation with communication. i.e. Back to School Night, etc. This would be difficult for the lower levels of students, but possibly doable with level 3 or higher.

I also think that volunteering at centers or festivals around the city would be a great opportunity for students as well to allow all involved to interact together and learn from one another. I think this type of “action” would be authentic and meaningful for those involved. A major facet of the IB is getting students to think critically about what they are learning. One way the IB gets students to do this is through concept-based teaching. A concept-based model is used in the MYP because it encourages students to process factual knowledge at a deeper intellectual level, create personal relevance, increase fluency with language, and achieve higher levels of critical,... Key concepts are broad and organizing ideas that have relevance within and across subjects and disciplines.

These help students make connects to other classes, experiences, and subjects. They also “engage students in higher-order thinking, helping them to connect facts and topics with more complex conceptual understanding.” Related concepts explore key concepts in greater detail. They emerge from reflection of specific subjects and disciplines, providing a focus for inquiry into subject-specific content. They are useful for exploring key concepts in greater detail. We were able to explore the idea of a concept-based model by engaging with an item during class.

We were shown an object (see photo) and were asked to write down what we thought about it in regards to different aspects, such as perspective, responsibility, form, function, change, casusation, connection and reflection. From there we looked at what the cohort had written about the object. It was explained to us that from there the teacher could take the questions/comments about the object and create a unit based on the inquiry of the students. This would make the unit more relevent to the student and allow them to draw their own connects to the content knowledge and hopefully develop transferable skills and knowledge while allowing them to think... Constructivist learning scenario: I was listening to my teacher telling us something about Hume, or Locke, or Pascal. She was involving us with questions, making connections between different authors, linking their thoughts to our current days political, social, or even personal situations.

As said, she wanted us to develop our own critical thinking. She was giving us hints to let us make our own path, in order to freely experiment our analysis capabilities and develop our own point of view. Skills in the ZPD: understanding each philosopher's thought, catching differences and similaritis. Develop our own critical thinking and being able to explain it to her and to peers. Scaffolding strategy: when we had to understand an abstract concept, she used to "put" that concept in a meaningful and real context: in this way, it was just like putting on the right glasses... How could she find an effective context?

Indeed she was not finding it: she used to ask us to think about some personal experiences we lived, experiences that were suitable background for that spectific concept. Social constructivist strategy: debates, discussions were the basis of her lessons. By listening to each other we were getting aware of how actual and close to us those old authors might become: who would have said that old thinker would have so well described the... And here is another experience I would like to share with you: The personal learning example I want to discuss is one of picture-based learning that I have also included in the infographic above. I worked for a company that created picture-based learning solutions in the past.

A large scale picture was created of a work environment, which was populated with scenarios to describe the typical environment and challenges related to the learning objectives. Activities were created around these pictures to ensure that certain outcomes were met. One of the main methods used was to create a discussion around a certain aspect of the work environment or scenarios. More experienced employees were often matched up with newer employees in groups to ensure transfer of learning. This is a Constructivist approach to learning because it relies on the learner’s previous experiences to be able to identify certain scenarios. It is a collaborative learning approach whereby other learners participate, offer solutions and comment on each other’s views.

Skills in the Zone of Proximal Development Click on this link and it will guide you to the infographic that gives an overview of Constructivism and describes a learning scenario that presents it in practice. My Learning experience around the middle school was partly on constructivism. The formation of groups to study a concept, engaging in discussions to advance learning, all these are a part of social constructivism. There was lesser element of scaffolding here. A learning scenario where the teacher supported a weaker group and lessened the support as the group advanced would be an excellent example of scaffolding.

An example of ZPD here would be handholding a weaker student to understand the concept better and progress him to the learning goal. http://iite.unesco.org/pics/publications/en/files/3214730.pdf Constructivism is a learning theory emerged as a reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviorism and programmed instruction, which explains how students might acquire knowledge by active learning, building knowledge and meaning from their... Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896 – 1943) developed the Social Development Theory which argues that social interaction precedes development; consciousness and cognition are the end product of socialization and social behavior.This theory is a bridge... Vygotsky developed The zone of proximal development (ZPD), defined as: "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under... 86).

Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) based on Vygotsky work developed the Scaffolding, a learning strategy that consists of support the activities provided by the teacher, or a peer, then to once the student does... Vygotsky, L. S. (1978).Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Constructivism Portfolio Kgnelso0 Wixsite Com

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