Reflection #3

(1) Describe the Resource / Experience:
During my resource search this week, I discovered an article posted on someone else’s Resource Log Blog that I thought was very interesting. It was an article by David Perkins entitled “The Many Faces of Constructivism”. I found this article to be very insightful and it allowed me to look at constructivism in a different way. In this article, the author discusses the variety of approaches associated with constructivism. It talks about how instruction can be included under the broad umbrella of “constructivism” but look different with different teachers and in different contexts.
(2) Lessons Learned / Applications for the Classroom /Recommendations for Yourself or Others:
At the start of this class and before reading this article, I found myself examining my classroom instructional practices for evidence of constructivism. At first, I was questioning whether or not my practices that I considered to be constructivism were truly aligned with the information that I had read about constructivism. However, since reading this article, I have learned that constructivism can look different in different contexts with different teachers but still be considered effective constructivist instruction. As for classroom application, I have learned that ALL constructivism does not look the same, and I will be sure to remember this while evaluating the constructivist practices within my own personal classroom.
(3) Links to Readings, Resources, or Discussions:
These ideas directly link to the following resource from my Resource Log:

Perkins, D. (1999, November). The many faces of constructivism. Educational Leadership, 57(3), 6. Retrieved January 31, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

The ideas expressed in this article are somewhat aligned with the research I did for my Wiki chapter about the controversies associated with constructivism (see Sandbox 1.4). During my research, I discovered that some of the major controversies associated with constructivism revolve around what constructivism should look like in a classroom. Through my research I discovered that many people often erroneously believe that constructivism means loud, noisy, uncontrolled chaos, but that this assumption is wrong because constructivist classrooms are not necessarily like this.