Essential Question 1

Do you believe Constructionism brings any new ideas to the table as a theory of education? Why or Why not?

Before this assignment, I had never heard of the term “constructionism” but as I dove into the rabbit hole of constructionism I realized that in fact this is a term I am quite familiar with. Constructionism is theory of learning that says “people build knowledge most effectively when they are actively engaged in constructing things in the world.” (MIT Media Lab, 2016). It came to be from the lifelong work of Seymour Papert.

In the 1950’s Papert began working with Jean Piaget who was Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget believed that learning happens from experiences and children develop intellectually without being taught. Papert expanded on those beliefs to include that “the best way to ensure that we learn something is through active creation of something tangible/shareable outside of your head.” (TEDx, 2014).

So now that I know exactly what constructionism is, do I believe that it brings any new ideas to the table as a theory of education? Absolutely and in very thrilling and exciting ways! It is the foundation of the “maker movement”. Constructionism allows for students to fall in love with learning by giving them opportunity to develop deep, personal connections to the material.

Constructionism goes hand-in-hand with another hot topic in education: growth mindset. I came across Papert’s Eight Big Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Lab and one that really popped out at me what “you can’t get it right without getting it wrong.” (Stager, 2007). I love that constructionism encourages students to make mistakes and learn from them. As a high school science teacher that is one of the biggest issues I encounter. Students are afraid to fail and seek only success through spoon-fed information. Imagine where the world could be in 10 years if we spent less time teaching them to memorize the right answers and more time encouraging them to learn how to think for themselves!


Resources:

MIT Media Laboratory. [MIT Media Lab]. (1986). Seymour Papert [Video file]. Retrieved May 19, 2019 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=120&v=IhEovwWiniY

MIT Media Lab. (2016, August 01). Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, pioneer of constructionist learning, dies at 88. Retrieved May 19, 2019 from http://news.mit.edu/2016/seymour-papert-pioneer-of-constructionist-learning-dies-0801

Papert, S., & Harel, I. (1991). Situating Constructionism. Retrieved May 19, 2019, from http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html

Roffey, T. (n.d.). Constructionism & Constructivism. Retrieved May 19, 2019, from http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/constructionism--constructivism.html

Stager, Gary. (2007). An Investigation of Constructionism in the Maine Youth Center. Retrieved May 19, 2019 from http://stager.org/articles/8bigideas.pdf

TEDx. [TEDx Talks]. (2014, March 14). Seymour Papert - inventory of everything: Gary Stager at TEDxASB [Video file]. Retrieved May 19, 2019 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1092&v=6-dFTmdX1kU