Faces of Constructivism Reflection

       I found the article "Faces of Constructivism" by Laura Henriques incredibly interesting. I had previously learned the general concept of constructivism but was not aware that there are four different types of constructivism. As I was reading about the Information Processing, Interactive-Constructivist, Social Constructivist, and Radical Constructivist approaches to constructivism, I was reminded of two distinctive styles of teaching. There are two styles of teaching, direct and indirect. Direct teaching, also called teacher-centered, is a structured process where the teacher presents information to the students to direct their learning. Indirect teaching or student-centered relies heavily on the student to work on their thinking skills. The teacher plays less of a role in this style of teaching as they guide their students to develop their skills.
    
      Teachers who have extensive knowledge of their subject matter will more easily be able to use both direct and indirect thinking. Young teachers typically concentrate more on how they are teaching rather than how their students are learning. This leads them to teach-to-the-test and often skills such as learning morals and values are lost. Experienced teachers develop a better understanding of pedagogical knowledge, or what happens when the teacher starts teaching.

      As I began to read about the four approaches to constructivism learning,  I became aware that they can be separated into groups based on direct or indirect teaching. Information Processing could be placed in the direct teaching group because a child's learning in this approach is centered on the teacher. The main goal of information processing is for children to learn facts pertaining to certain subject matters and be able to apply them to similar situations in the real world. Interactive-Constructivism on the other hand, could be placed in the indirect teaching group because it relies heavily on the role of students in their learning. The teacher remains an integral part of the classroom but they take on the role of facilitator and allow their students ideas and thoughts to be the main concern. Our Applications to Biological Sciences class would fit into the Interactive-Constructivism group because we have a teacher who facilitates class discussion while also allowing the students to develop their own understanding of the material. Social Constructivism and Radical Constructivism would also fit into the indirect teaching group because they are student-centered through interaction with society and creating personal knowledge through experience.