Fosnot (1996) refers to constructivism as "a theory about knowledge and learning." According to constructivist theory, knowledge is "temporary, developmental, nonobjective, internally constructed, and socially and culturally mediated." Fosnot presents learning as "a self-regulatory process of struggling with the conflict between existing personal models of the world and discrepant new insights." Learners construct new models which are refined through "cooperative social activity, discourse, and debate" (p. ix). Such a theory of knowledge and learning has significant implications for teaching. It changes the dynamics of the traditional classroom by empowering the learner as the focus and architect of the learning process while redefining the role of the instructor to be a guide and helper rather than the source and conduit of knowledge. Constructivism has become an educational theory of choice for many within modern educational institutions. Gaining additional insight into this theory is the purpose of this document.
The foundational premise of constructivism is that learners actively construct their own knowledge by anchoring new information to preexisting knowledge (Strommen & Lincoln, 1992). Learning does not occur in isolation, either. Learners interact with the knowledge, the learning environment, and with other learners (Dershem, 1996). These interactions alter the knowledge and change the learners’ perceptions of that knowledge; so what is learned is not based just on an individual's past experiences, but on the collective experiences of the learning community.
Constructivist learners are active. Within the environment of constructivism knowledge is viewed "as something created, discovered, and experienced" (Snyder, Bolin, & Zumwalt, 1992). Students have the opportunity "to take personal responsibility, exercise initiative, and be in control in the instructional setting through a variety of learning experiences" (p. 415).
According to Applebee and Purves, constructivists view "knowledge as an active construction built up by the individual acting within a social context that shapes and constrains that knowledge but does not determine it in an absolute sense" (p. 738). The idea of learner control is essential to constructivism because constructivist learning relies on the learner doing the work of learning (Dershem, 1996). Constructivist teaching empowers the learner to construct and interpret his/her understanding of knowledge and reality.
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