Constructivism is an approach to education that has long been embraced by such infamous thinkers as Frobel, Freud, Erikson and its greatest contributors, Jean Piaget and John Dewey. (DeVries et al., 2002) It has been studied, implemented and found to be successful by educators for many years and has shown its staying power by the many schools and learning facilities that have changed their curriculum to embody the constructivist perspective. While some critics note that there is always a new fad, or latest trend when discussing education, they have yet to brand constructivism with this label. Its importance can be witnessed as its discussion made the cover of the November 1999 issue of the Educational Leadership Journal. As well, the numerous articles (200+ found on the ERIC database) published on the topic show the wide range of support or disapproval from other academics in the field of education. (Bird et al., 2001)

Defining constructivism is a task that is not easily completed. In essence, it is a philosophy of education that has been developed from theories constructed by many educational theorists (

This activity was so effective yet so simple and had the children enthralled through the whole thing. Constructivist methods truly are successful. When the children realized what the web was illustrating, looks of astonishment came across their faces and it was clear that they truly had learned.

Criticisms and Strengths of Constructivism

If visualizing a constructivist classroom, there would be hands on equipment all over the room that reflected what the children had been learning about. There would seats positioned in groups or in a circle but definitely not in rows as constructivism is not about separating children to keep a quiet classroom. The classroom would have free space where activities could take place freely and openly and the teacher would not stand at the front and lecture for an hour. The teacher would allow for learning to take place freely yet always be there to keep students focused and ensure that learning is occurring. The teacher would also not feel the need to intervene unless necessary and would let learning occur naturally as learning is a natural process. Field trips would be organized and implemented often as hands-on or active learning is the type of learning that occurs in a constructivist classroom. The outdoors would also be taken advantage of in rain or shine so that the children could experience the weather first hand and learn through feeling the wetness of the rain, or the coldness of the snow. It would be the teacher's job to take advantage of the rainy day in order to let his/her class truly experience weather.

After completing seven placements throughout my university/college career, I have noticed the increase in teachers who are using constructivist methods in their teaching. Often times, teachers are not aware that the techniques they use are derived from the constructivist perspective, yet they use them as they are valuable and effective ways to teach.

To break each component of constructivism down would allow for a better understanding. Process is best understood when comparing it to its counterpart 'product'. In a non-constructivist classroom, often times the child's work is looked at and marked by looking at what has been created. The perfect math test score or the neatest artwork would all be candidates for an 'A' grade. In a constructivist classroom, the product is not what the evaluator looks at. It is the way that the child got to that product. It is the process by which he completed the math test, or the skills acquired when creating the painting. For example, in a non-constructivist classroom, if a child completes a math test and gets all of the questions wrong he would fail. Whereas, in a constructivist class, the way a child made errors would be looked at and evaluated. If a child grasps the concept, yet just made simple calculation errors, it can be noted that the concept has been learned, but not yet perfected. As well, when completing an art project, if a child paints a horribly messy, unorganized picture that did not follow the guidelines laid out, he would fail. Yet in a constructivist class, if in the process of creating this picture he learned that blue and yellow create green when mixed, a new concept would have been learned and the lesson would have been successful.

Constructivism has fought a difficult battle in order to gain the respect that it deserves. Perhaps this is because this philosophy of education is the complete opposite from the ones that many policy makers from the last twenty years were educated with. (Bird et al., 2001) In any case, its many strengths have shone through and it has become recognized to such an extent that many private and charter schools have developed in order

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