Social Constructivism in Middle Childhood

Social Constructivism - What it means to the theorist

Lev Vygotsky

     Social construction is the concept by which we connect meaning with our experiences in the physical and non physical world. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVVWmZAStn8) A child`s culture directly affects the experiences they will have; therefore the knowledge and meaning making  they create will vary among individuals. As early as infancy children begin to notice how the adults around them use words to express their emotions, and their culture is what gives them the cognitive tools required to develop (Source). He invented the Zone of Proximal development (ZPD) that implies what I child will learn what's in their proximal development, but they also need to challenged and facilitated by their caregivers. That way they can reach their potential knowledge once it becomes attainable to them.

So in middle childhood which ranges from ages 8-11, this might look like one teacher working with small groups of students around different experiences that follow their interests. However even though they are learning what they want to learn, there are also social justice issues within those interests. Especially in middle childhood when friendships grow stronger, and fairness becomes a big issue our these children,

What it means to me
      To me social constructivism means that the teacher gives every child a voice, and actually finds a way to make their classroom their own culture. In which everyone is aware of the customs and social rules, and works together to live and interact by those rules. In social constructivist class for middle age children the teacher and the students respect the idea that there is more than one right way to do something, and I think that is very important. That there can be more than one right answer, that there are different kinds of smart. So that children can learn to understand what makes them who they are as people. I like the idea of seeing natural materials in the classroom, I think that brings in a different form of aesthetic beauty that everyone can appreciate.

      When I think of all the teachers I had throughout middle childhood, I can definitely say my 4th and 5th grade teacher Ms. Waddell was the closest to a social constructivist; and that's partly why she is the best teacher I have ever had. What was interesting about my class in grade 4 was that I was in a 4/5 split that had about 15 grade 5's but only 7 grade 4's, so at first we used to be transferred to join the other grade 4 class because that was where we could learn more of our year's curriculum. But then while Ms. Waddell was trying to focus on the grade 5 curriculum, I was feeling a little disadvantaged along with my other classmates because we had to learn from a teacher that wasn't really ours in a class that wasn't ours. After the first term of my 4th grade year Ms. Waddell noticed that we weren't very happy with this transition, so she started to teach the content of both grades together. Which was great because the grade 4's got a little sneak peek at what was in the year ahead of us, which seemed a lot more fascinating than what we were doing so often we would chime in on class discussions. She was also great at getting us to work together on class projects like making a sign for our famous Erin Fall Fair. She taught us about other cultures, and actually was able to get a special guest student from Japan to visit our class, and some children ended up becoming pen pals with him. She would encourage us to sing together. Most importantly she was excellent at adjusting our schedule to meet our needs, and create more joy in our learning.