I think what Von Glasersfeld meant by constructing knowledge is that our knowledge is built upon things that happen in each of our lives and through prior experiences that we have encountered. One thing that Von Glasersfeld strongly believes is that all of the information we are given is filtered through our own personal experiences, so it is impossible for everyone to have the same knowledge and information. All knowledge is subjective, and there is no way to know if what we see is automatically correct. We draw conclusions from our previous experiences. We can only know if things are incorrect, and we come to know that things are incorrect when something from our prior experience contradicts what we think is true. All of our knowledge is constructed and filtered through our prior experiences.
Knowing that personal experiences help construct our knowledge tells me that I can never assume that the students have the same picture or concept in their head as I do in my head. As a teacher, I think it will be important to ask the students questions so they can describe to me what they are understanding so I can get a better idea of what they know. It is the student who takes in the information I give them and filters and conceptualizes it in their head. I need to make sure to take responsibility to work with the students and have them tell me what they are learning so I can try to make sure that we are all on the same page.
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I think you hit the theory of constructivism right on the head in your first paragraph. I might have taken out the last sentence because you had already clearly made that point and it was redundant.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts in the second paragraph. I wonder if when you ask students questions to assess their understanding could they possibly just regurgitate your understanding back to you that they memorized rather then what they had conceptualized in their head? What kind of questions would you ask to make sure they really understand? Thanks for your thoughts!
Yes, thats so true that our knowledge is constructed and filtered through our prior experiences.
ReplyDeletethat's a very good realization to never assume that the students are on the same page as you. it takes me back to grade school when most of the time i had no idea what the teacher was trying to say. I think that is a good approach to have them try to explain what they think so you can gain a better understanding of their progress. thanks
Nice job of summarizing von Glasersfeld's thinking about what it means to "construct" knowledge. The only thing I would add is that people use their experiences to create theories about how the world works, what things mean, and what is true. These theories then become the lens we use to interpret our ongoing experiences. Thus, we can never have an "objective" experience, because we always use our theories to help us know what things in the experience to attend to and what those things mean.
ReplyDeleteI knew there was a reason we sit at the same table. :) What a great summary of what was being said in the paper. I do agree with Heather though, I know that I frequently just regurgitate what I have been previously told, so how would you makes sure the students understand? Also, this is something that would work on a one-to-one level, but would there be time in a classroom setting?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you wrote. It is very important to always check and be sure you and the student are on the same page. I know this is something i definitely want to try and use in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog on this topic. The implication of the article on constructivism was both clearly described and thought out. I think that you did a great job on explaining the connection between teaching and constructivism and it was easy to understand. I also agree with you on this point and even had that as my first implication. You also did a good job of writing in a scholarly tone.
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