Learning As
Social Interaction
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The Learning As Social Interaction Team
The article suggested to the class as prior reading was Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom (Powell & Kalina, 2009). This reading was chosen because it supported and expanded on the material in the slide presentation. In a true Social Constructivist fashion, we felt that offering the class a number of articles from which to choose would not be as helpful as one since Lev Vygotsky believed that learning could only occur as part of interactions with a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) (McLeod, 2014) or, in this case, others. We wanted everyone to be on the same page, as it were. By participating in the Shape Activity on slides sixteen and seventeen, the other students in this course would experience learning about Social Constructivism through social interaction without trying to tie the concept to many repetitive articles.
Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and
social constructivism: Developing tools for an effective classroom. Education, 130(2), 241–251. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A216181184/AONE?u=ko_acd_uoo&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=48cf0bbc
Reflection: Through a conversation with our professor, Dr. Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen on September 29, 2022, we learned that Social Constructivism is often used in the teaching of Mathematics. She discussed Leone Burton's study where she looked at how forty Math teachers worked. All but two of these teachers would discuss their mathematical thinking. Through those conversations, they built on each other's ideas until they created an understanding more significant than what they could attain on their own.
I recalled my own experience teaching Visual Art to Primary students. I would share my vision of an art project with my students. Together we would come up with ideas of how we could fulfill the requirements of the activity. Often, we would research other artists whose work seemed to complement what we were trying to achieve. At their table groups, the children would visualize what they were going to do and create a simple draft on drawing paper. They would begin the creative process when their ideas were thought out to their satisfaction. At specific points in their work, I would stop the activity to ask for volunteers to share what they had done.
Sometimes, I would also share my work in progress or encourage a reticent student to participate. The volunteers would place their pieces on the ledge at the front of the room, and we would all join a gallery walk to study the submissions. The students would talk with an elbow friend about what they noticed. Then they would take a clipboard, paper, and pencil and note two stars and a wish, that is, two things they liked and one thing they wished a specific artist had done or may do in the future. The helpful conversations about the strengths and next steps for their work, presented in a collegial, non-threatening way, helped the artist see how they could improve if they chose. In my own life as a practising artist, this is an essential part of my development. I am lucky to have many artist friends willing to chat about my work as part of a community of artists. As Robyn would say, we are creating a more knowledgeable whole in all of these situations.
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