Constructivist Epistemology and Pedagogy: Insight into Teaching, Learning and Knowing

The National Curriculum Framework, has talked in a great length about learning and knowledge. It advocates situating the entire gamut of our perception and understanding of the process of learning and knowledge in a different paradigm. This paradigm may be termed as “constructivist paradigm” as it emphasises the need to recognise the child as a natural and active learner, and knowledge as the outcome of the child’s own activity. Thus, the learning plans need to nurture and build on his active and creative capabilities—his inherent interest in making meaning, in relating to the world in ‘real’ ways through acting on it and creating and relating to other humans. It suggests that the curriculum must enable children to find their voices, nurture their talent and satisfy their curiosity do things, to ask questions and to pursue investigations, sharing and integrating their experiences with School knowledge—rather than their ability to reproduce textual knowledge. It has also asserted that the teaching should create an urge for knowledge. It exhorts the teachers and the teacher educators to situate teaching and learning in a constructivist paradigm. Some of the questions most frequently asked are: what is Constructivism? What is the assumption of knowledge and how is it processed in constructivist paradigm? What is learning and teaching in constructivist paradigm and how is it different from traditional mode of learning and teaching principles? What are constructivist learning and teaching strategies? How to construct a constructivist classroom and be a constructivist teacher? How to develop a constructivist instructional design? How to develop a thinking curriculum in constructivist paradigm? How to develop a constructivist teacher education programme? How to conduct constructivist researches? The book attempts to answer these and many more such questions that educators, teachers, parents and others very often encounter. It explores the substantial philosophical, psychological and sociological underpinnings of Constructivism. It deals with instructional dimensions and classroom ecology of teaching and learning imbued with constructivist educational philosophy. Also included are pragmatic ideas for helping teacher educators, educational researchers, teachers and parents to groom students to learn and think.