Constructivist Pedagogy Observation

Part one.

During my observations I was in a school which operates under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Ferns. It was here where I found that constructivist pedagogy, the importance of working memory/ZPD and dialogue were three aspects which I strongly believe are of utmost importance in any child’s life.

Constructivist pedagogy was first coined by Jean Piaget, where he made a systematic study of cognitive development. An important element for this theory to work is that the student should be an active learner. There are two processes in which an active learner is essential in life; assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is our first impression of what we see, where accommodation is when we are told new knowledge about this object.

2007) was created by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968, where they showed that memory was like information flowing through a system with a series of stores. The three main stores are; sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Within the sensory memory, information is detected from the sense organs. If this information is attended to it will then enter the short-term memory stage, where it will only stay for approximately 20 seconds. To ensure that information develops into the long-term memory stage, constant rehearsal is needed. If the information is not rehearsed it is then lost from short-term memory. As well as these stages, working memory can also be divided into two groups; auditory and visual-spatial. Children with poor working memory will find certain tasks difficult, especially maths problems where the teacher calls out the problem. These children will only retain around half of the information that the teacher calls out, leaving them at a disadvantage beginning the

They are as follows; teamwork, planning, community involvement and parental involvement. For a school to be completely inclusive these four aspects have to be evident and work together in harmony. It is my belief that parental involvement is of vital importance within a school, as it empowers the parents themselves to undertake their own role as a primary educator. This would mean that dialogue between students, teachers and parents would be easily accessible. Teamwork is an aspect in life that everyone will experience at some stage. If a school facilitates the skills necessary for team work at an early stage, then these children will understand that it is an essential aspect of life. This teamwork can be practiced within the school between the staff members of the school. As well as parental involvement, community involvement is also significant as it creates links with the greater school