The idea of constructivism is not a new one, but is not as frequently enacted in the classroom as I believe it should be.  Whether teaching diverse students or participating in curriculum development discussions, the understanding that students all come to our classrooms with prior experiences and knowledge should always be something we consider when making educational decisions.  It is interesting to me that even the least engaged teacher will admit that all children are different, yet these same teachers have trouble seeing how that simple statement should impact nearly every single teaching practice they employ.  Through our classroom discussion on AdobeConnect, I saw first hand some of the resistance to this theory.  I understand that elementary teachers will face a very different set of challenges than I will as a secondary teacher, but I still feel it is important for all teachers to understand how prior experiences and knowledge will impact students in the classroom.  The first rule of teaching is that in order to reach students, they must be engaged.   The most efficient way to get students “firing on all cylinders” is to first activate prior knowledge and then use learning activities that students can relate to based on their previous experiences.  Throughout this online discussion I was reminded of text I read regarding the characteristics of successful readers.  This may seem slightly off topic, but stick with me here – I’ll get to my point in a minute. :)   Researchers found that individuals who read well shared several common characteristics.  They frequently made predictions about a text prior to interacting with it.  They used the title, cover art, text organization style, and teacher introduction (just to name a few) to guess what the text was going to be about and what they would learn.  Successful readers then subconsciously activated their current knowledge about the topic.  The mentally reviewed what they already knew about the text subject, and began actively thinking before the actual process of reading had even begun.  What researchers found at the next step, the actual reading process, is what really set off lightbulbs for me as an educator.  Research showed that during reading, these students actively noted important headings and key ideas as they interacted with text and mentally adjusted incorrect prior understandings or expanded previously held beliefs based on the new information they created during their interaction with text.  It is important to note that I use the word created rather than received.  Successful readers do not attempt to simply receive information from text, but rather they actively participate in the text interaction to create meaning!  This metacognitive skill that most advanced readers possess is usually a subconscious act.  They don’t even realize that they are doing it, I certainly never realized that I read this way.   Perhaps a more accurate statement is that I never considered that other kids were NOT reading this way.  So the question is….. How does this relate to constructivism.  It seems to me that they same internal thought processes occurring with advanced readers, occur with every student but appear as a lack of metacognitive skills for a large number of students.  Successful learners naturally activate their previously attained knowledge to use as a foundation to the understanding and retention of new material.  Whether a student shows a great deal of metacognitive skill or none at all is basically just two sides of the same coin.  It is clear to me that students do, in fact, create their own meaning from every learning experience.  The question now is…..If we understand the internal thoughts processes that support active learning, why are we not actively teaching these skills?  Sadly, I don’t know the answer to that.  I firmly believe that these mental processes can be encouraged, and even trained in students who lack them.  Educators need to support students in the creation of meaning through learning activities that teach the activation of prior knowledge, prediction of new material, and revision/expansion of existing understandings (our video speaker calls them frameworks) to lead students in the creation of new, deeper understandings of content material.  What is really amazing to me, is that this is basically the foundation of critical thought and problem solving skills that can then be applied to nearly every area of a student’s life, not simply academics.  The impact of this type of teaching is astounding when you really think about the far-reaching effects it can have.

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