Faith-Based Education That Constructs

A Creative Dialogue between Contructivism and Faith-Based Education

Lee

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781498271714
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Constructivism is everywhere. It is a hot issue at this time in the field of philosophy, education, technology, and religion. However, can constructivism be an alternative approach in faith-based education? While some conclude that Jesus knew learning was an active knowledge-creating process, and that he always encouraged his disciples to think deeply and go beyond the surface level, others would find that constructivism undercuts faith-based education because of its claims to relativity. For example, constructivists claim that meaning is imposed on the world by us rather than existing in the world independently from us. Thus, they proclaim that truth is relative to particular times, places, and people. Christians hold that truth does exist absolutely. So how can there be a way forward for faith-based educators who see the good in the constructivist approach? In Faith-Based Education that Constructs readers will find a unique approach whereby constructivism may appropriately be applied to a faith-based education setting. Although disagreement can occur between constructivism and faith-based education, this book concludes that constructivist thought and Christian faith-based education are, in the end, congruent and harmonious in significant ways. Those faith-based educators who continue to hold cautionary views of radical constructivist assertions against absolute truths need not disregard all other aspects of constructivism.

Part 1

Trends and Issues of Constructivism

Introduction

Have you understood all things (Matt 13:511)? Do you still not understand (Mark 8:21)? This is the way Jesus teaches. The purpose of Jesus’ teaching for the disciples is to be understood. What does “understand” mean? It is more than memorizing or reciting something, which were the main teaching activities of Jewish leaders. Jesus’ teaching can be identified through four stages of active inquiry process, which began with identifying teachable moments. Then he guided inquiry with intriguing questions. He never gave the answer directly to his disciples; rather, he allowed his disciples to explore a hypothesis to find the answer to the question. Learners constructed and organized his teaching based on their own experiences and personal contexts. Once his disciples understood the lesson, Jesus applied the lesson to their lives, usually saying, “go and do it likewise” (Luke 10:37).

Part 1 of this book addresses the theoretical issues of constructivism, especially its congruence to the faith-based educational setting. Identifying the key characteristics of constructivism as a learning theory and connecting it with faith-based education, chapter 1 introduces three of the most prevalent learning theories in the last century: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. After presenting each theory individually, the author seeks to establish a basis for constructivism in the faith-based school or faith-based classroom. Because people learn through their own experiences and subsequent reflection on those experiences, the author suggests that constructivism teaches students how to ask the “big” questions and learn through exploration by reflecting on past experiences.

Chapter 2 analyzes and evaluates the educational theory of constructivism from a biblical worldview. The postmodern foundations of constructivism are examined first. This is followed by a definition and then a critique of constructivism itself in the areas of philosophy, anthropology, learning theory, curriculum development, instructional strategies, assessment, and research. The conclusions that are drawn indicate both compatibility with biblical norms in certain areas and a lack of compatibility in others.

Since constructivism is deeply embedded in a philosophy that denies absolute truth and that encourages students to construct their own truth while acknowledging that multiple truths exist, many Christians might ask if any good can come out of such an approach. Chapter 3 evaluates constructivist philosophy and methods in light of a biblical worldview by comparing constructivism to the Bible’s approaches to instruction and the teaching methods of Jesus. The author summarizes negative aspects of constructivist philosophy and presents the positive outcomes of constructivist learning theory and classroom methodology. Finally, the author examines how constructivist ideas relate to a biblical perspective and Jesus’ teaching, demonstrating how Christian educators can use constructivism in the classroom.

Despite constructivism’s positive influence on education, confusion with the term has restricted its proper implementation into the classroom. Chapter 4 clarifies the term “constructivism” with the analogy of three faces and establishes possible connections between constructivism and faith-based education: a postmodern educational philosophy, a post-positivist research paradigm, and a set of pedagogical practices and instructional methods that emphasize active participation of learners. The author also suggests some implications for constructivism in faith-based education for each “face.”

1. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptures quoted are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible.

1

Overview of Learning Theories

Debra Espinor

Excellence, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual excellence in the main owes both its birth and its growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time) . . .

—Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Introduction

Virtually everyone would agree that the role of the school is to help students learn. The school, as an institution of education, must incorporate a sense of morality or values. This said, the methods of incorporating morality and values into education vary. This chapter explores three of the most common learning theories of the last fifty years: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Each section will take a brief glance at the history, background, and definition of each of the theories. Then, the chapter will turn to the strengths and weaknesses of each of the theories, illuminating their role in supporting students’ learning. In addition, we will examine how these specific learning theories can be combined with faith in the classroom, in the home-school environment, and in other educational settings. Table 1.1 offers a summary of the three learning theories discussed in this chapter.

Table 1.1 Summary of learning theories

Theory	Behaviorism	Cognitivism	Constructivism
Definition	Behavior should be explained by all things observed, not by mental processes.	Mental function can be understood and explained, and psychology is the medium for the explanation.	The learner is at the center of the educational stage. Knowledge cannot be handed down from one person to another but must be constructed by learners themselves.
Strengths	A new behavioral pattern is repeated until it becomes automatic.	The focus is on the mental structures that cause our physical actions.	Learning is the constant effort to assimilate new information.
Weaknesses	Classical conditioning can create fear in learners. The method is unable to deal with complex human behavior.	The idea that mental functions can be described through an information processing model is a weakness.	The method does not fit with the current standards-based testing that has developed in the United States.
Applications to the classroom	Teachers can use this model to develop classroom rules and procedures.	The use of multiple and emotional intelligences could influence the development of lessons and curriculum.	Scaffolding the questions, clues, or suggestions that help students link prior knowledge to new information can improve the classroom environment.
Key people	John Watson B. F. Skinner Albert Bandura	Noam Chomsky Donald E. Broadbent Jerome Bruner	John Dewey Jean Piaget Lev Vygotsky

Behaviorism

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.

—B. F. Skinner

History and Background

American psychologist John Watson was the original thinker behind behaviorism. He suggested that behavior was the only thing that psychology should be concerned with and discounted the mind and the feelings of human consciousness (Alonso, Lopez, Manrique, & Vines, 2008). He went on to propose that rats, apes, and humans should all be studied objectively and in the same way.

Behaviorism strongly emphasizes experience, specifically reinforcement and punishment, as these determine human learning and behavior. Ivan Pavlov (1928) studied animal responses to conditioning. His is best known for his experimentation with dogs. Pavlov would ring a bell when feeding a group of dogs. Eventually, the dogs began to salivate at the ringing of a bell and equated the sound with the coming of another meal. The behavior was later reversed: Pavlov would ring a bell but offer no food, yet the dogs still salivated. Pavlov and Watson believed that humans could be conditioned in the same manner.

B. F. Skinner tested Watson’s theories in the laboratory. He rejected Watson’s stress on conditioning. Skinner believed that people respond to their environment and that they are aware that their environment affects their behavior. Skinner (1985) believed that people act in response to their environment yet also operate under the conviction that the environment produces consequences. Skinner’s theory of “operant conditioning”—the idea that humans behave the way they do because their behavior had consequences in the past—considers each person as an individual (Cohen, 1987). Consequences—rewards and punishments—are contingent on the behavior of the person studied. Reinforcement (reward) is a consequence that increases the probability that a behavior will occur, while punishment is a consequence that decreases the probability a behavior will occur. Reinforcement of behavior strengthens behavior. Using positive reinforcement, the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by a rewarding stimulus. Negative reinforcement elicits a similar response because the frequency of a desired response increases as a negative stimulus is removed. In summary, positive reinforcement occurs when a pleasant stimulus is added and negative reinforcement occurs when an unpleasant stimulus is removed.

Albert Bandura (1974) has also provided a modified approach to these theories, suggesting that people learn from one another via observation, imitation, and modeling. His theory has become a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it includes attention, memory, and motivation. Bandura’s “reciprocal determinism” looks at the reciprocation of the person’s behavior in dire...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• List of Contributors
• Part One: Trends and Issues of Constructivism Introduction
• Chapter 1: Overview of Learning Theories
• Chapter 2: Constructivism: A Critique from a Biblical Worldview
• Chapter 3: Constructivism in the Classroom: Is It Biblical?
• Chapter 4: Three Faces of Constructivism
• Part Two: Constructivism in Faith-Based Education Introduction
• Chapter 5: Jesus’ Teaching Model and Its Embedded Constructivist Principles
• Chapter 6: Constructivist Curriculum Design
• Chapter 7: Jesus and Bloom: How Effective Was Jesus in Requiring People to Think Critically?
• Chapter 8: Did Jesus Utilize Constructivist Teaching Practices?
• Chapter 9: Beyond Constructivism: Exploring Grand Narratives and Story Constructively
• Chapter 10: Constructivism in an Era of Accountability:A Case Study of Three Christian Public School Teachers
• Chapter 11: Guided Discovery Learning
• Chapter 12: A Constructive, Interactive Approach to Learning
• Chapter 13: Oobleck: A Constructivist Science Lesson Viewed from a Christian Perspective
• Chapter 14: Fostering Online Communities of Faith
• Chapter 15: Project-Based Learning in Faith-Based Multicultural Education
• Chapter 16: Until My Change Comes: Assessment in the Faith-Based Classroom with Constructivist Components
• Part Three: Reflections and Future Concerns Introduction
• Chapter 17: Constructivism and Faith-Based Education:Children Separated at Birth?
• Chapter 18: If We Build It, They Will Come! Will Constructivism Matter in the Future of Faith-Based Education?