Von Glasersfeld talks about constructing knowledge, which means that everything we experience is interpreted through a lens of things we already know. In other words, knowledge is subjective. There isn't just one form of knowledge that we acquire or gain. In fact, no one can even be sure what knowledge really is, and thus the definition of knowledge becomes a theory in and of itself. The things we learn about and the experiences that we have are stored in our minds a little bit differently than the next person. Even when it seems as though people think about something in the same way, there is no foolproof method to ensure that knowledge is being processed the same way in peoples' brains. Since what we learn is tainted by experiences we have personally had, knowledge is something that is constructed. This causes what is "true" or "correct" to be obscure, which in turn implies that knowledge is viable as long as it does not clash with our experiences.
The principle of constructivism can be implemented in the way we teach. From a teacher's perspective would come a realization that even when it seems as though students understand a concept in the same way that they do, it is really not that obvious. The output students give when assessed may look and sound like the teacher's understanding. However, the students may be interpreting concepts in relation to different experiences, which could lead to an understanding that is not exactly how the teacher wanted them to think about it. Thus, as a teacher, I would try and assess the students in many different ways. I would have them justify and express their thinking by writing in journals, talking with one another, writing on the board, drawing pictures, creating projects, using technology etc. that would help me to grasp how students are thinking. This would also be a means of creating experiences for the students that they can latch onto and associate with the material that is taught. I think it would be useful to ask specific questions that would probe students' thoughts beyond the surface in order to really see how they understand a concept. I would take this approach from the constructivist standpoint in which I realize students are connecting and interpreting concepts based on a variety of experiences, meaning they will probably need different ways to best learn and to best display their diverse ways of thinking.
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I agree with you, if you apply the constructivist theory in the classroom your realize everyone understands and stores sensory information differently. Assessment by different techniques is a great idea. I might have taken out a few redundant sentences in your second paragraph and stated the idea of different types of assessment more succinctly for clarity. Thanks for your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteYou've done a nice job of capturing one of von Glasersfeld's main points, which is that all of our experiences are filtered through the lens of the theories we have constructed from past experience. von Glasersfeld, however, doesn't really say much about the brain or the technicalities of how the knowledge is stored. His point is that a person's knowledge is idiosyncratic and unique to him or her because it is based off of unique experiences and the theories the person constructed from the experiences.
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