{"id":5985,"date":"2013-04-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/education-philosophy-becomes-practice\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:45:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:45:38","slug":"education-philosophy-becomes-practice","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/education-philosophy-becomes-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Education Philosophy Becomes Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

This post was originally published at the Partially Examined Life:\u00a0 A Philosophy Podcast and Blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past hundred years Constructivists and Traditionalists have enjoyed an uneasy truce in the world of education practitioners. \u00a0Constructivism \u201csays that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.\u201d [thirteen.org<\/a>] \u00a0Traditionalists were more influenced by the \u201cscientific management\u201d of\u00a0Taylorism<\/a>, seeing schools on the\u00a0industry model. Schools are factories with inputs,\u00a0throughputs\u00a0 and outputs. \u00a0The compromise between the two:\u00a0 educators would agree that Constructivism was true, but would act<\/em> as if it were not.<\/p>\n

Yes, it made sense as a model to discuss how learners \u201cconstruct\u201d knowledge\u201d rather than \u201cacquire\u201d it.\u00a0Of course, any teacher would say, students learn at different rates, in different ways, and according to their circumstance<\/em>. But it was so impractical \u2013 hordes of students operating according to their individual motivations. Who can afford that?\u00a0 And how are you going to track progress?\u00a0 How will you know if you are getting your money\u2019s worth from your schools?<\/p>\n

Since John Dewey\u2019s\u00a0Democracy and Education<\/em><\/a>\u00a0educators have worked to bring Constructivist ideas into the classroom. Rockford College philosopher Stephen Hicks explains\u00a0in this video<\/a> the core of pragmatist education, which evolved into Constructivism.<\/p>\n

The dominant Traditionalist paradigm treats schools like factories which should strive for efficiency and be able to match costs to outputs in a way that would please taxpayers and school boards. \u201cAnd, by the way,\u201d said the traditionalists, \u201cmost tax payers and school boards are traditionalist.\u201d \u00a0Yes, there were progressive, Constructivist experiments but the results of these experiments were inconclusive. Traditionalists argued that this proved that Constructivism was valueless. Constructivists argued that a few pockets of progressive practice\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0possibly survive or thrive within a traditionalist system.<\/p>\n

But what if the practice spread through the system? What if, instead of operating in spite<\/em> of the system, constructivist practice was supported and encouraged by the system? That may be happening.<\/p>\n

Constructivists are rising. The argument for a constructivist approach to education has become ubiquitous and compelling, and the ethical dudgeon has been raised high. Last month in San Diego, representatives of the Education Departments of eleven states gathered as members of the Innovation Lab Network<\/a> in order to plan their state\u2019s move toward constructivism in the form of competency-based\/learner-centered<\/a> education. This is a direct challenge to the national education regime and its No Child Left Behind<\/a> tendencies.<\/p>\n

At the opening, the conferees accepted key constructivist ideas as given:<\/p>\n

1) Learning occurs best when the student is self-directed and engaged,
\n2) Context and motivation are profound influences on a student\u2019s potential learning,
\n3) Knowledge is socially constructed, and no teacher could possibly \u201cknow\u201d what their student knows \u2013 especially not through pencil and paper tests,
\n4) Teachers act as coaches or facilitators of learning, rather than as experts \u201cfilling empty vessels,\u201d
\n5) Curriculum, instruction, and assessment can all be designed and executed in a way that takes all of these truths into account and allow authentic learning to occur.
\n6) Most importantly, because of advances in technology \u2013 laptops, iPads, etc. \u2013 enacting a constructivist vision is not only possible<\/em>, it\u2019s practical.<\/em><\/p>\n

Education consultant Robert Marzano<\/a> has been promoting this vision through research and advocacy for over a decade, as have Linda Darling-Hammond<\/a>\u00a0and others. Bea McGarvey and Chuck Schwahn, in their slim but influential book, Inevitable:\u00a0 Mass Customized Learning in the Age of Empowerment<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(2012), amplify the idea that the pragmatic, constructivist vision of education is now possible.\u00a0 (And by \u201cpossible\u201d they mean, \u201caffordable.\u201d) The key, according to McGarvey and Schwahn \u2013 whose book leans very heavily towards advocacy and practice, rather than philosophy \u2013 is that technology has increased profoundly a school\u2019s ability to manage the massive amounts of information produced in a truly constructivist classroom, with each learner having their own learning plans, their own measures, and their own schedules. Here is a video<\/a> with McGarvey.<\/p>\n

Being able to monitor this amount of data to track students assuages the great fear of constructivist education \u2013 i.e., that the classroom will devolve into a Rousseauian state of nature<\/a>\u00a0. It allows the student to plan their own paths and find their own resources. It allows the teacher to respond to student needs individually, rather than in crowds. And it allows the district to document learner growth for purposes of accountability to the state, federal government, and taxpayers. (It also, by the way, gives the learner access to more resources than one could possibly have imagined, even ten years ago.)<\/p>\n

Thus, because technology has eased the logistical condition of education, we see a shift in the philosophical condition of education. We see constructivist philosophy gaining in \u201ccash value.\u201d In Maine<\/a>, for example, 50% of all school districts have committed to shifting towards proficiency-based\/learner-centered education, and the legislature passed a law a requirement for proficiency-based diplomas. Kentucky<\/a>, Wisconsin<\/a>, and Oregon<\/a> are taking similar steps. It\u2019s no longer a subversive philosophy used to push back against an over-bearing, bureaucratic system. \u00a0Rather it is coming to define the system.<\/p>\n

\n

Gary Chapin is a Senior Associate at the Center for Collaborative Education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","mapsvg_location":""},"legacy_category":[99,106,413],"issue":[385,377],"location":[],"class_list":["post-5985","cw_post","type-cw_post","status-publish","hentry","legacy_category-reflection","legacy_category-resource","legacy_category-understanding-competency-education","issue-redefine-student-success","issue-state-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEducation Philosophy Becomes Practice - Aurora Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/education-philosophy-becomes-practice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Education Philosophy Becomes Practice - Aurora Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post was originally published at the Partially Examined Life:\u00a0 A Philosophy Podcast and Blog. 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