ETL 401 Blog Task #2

Constructivist Learning and the Australian Curriculum

This week Victorian Teachers go on strike. The stop work is principally a dispute over pay and conditions but teachers have put a moratorium on developing the national curriculum as part of upping the pressure on government to listen to their grievances. The national curriculum is due to be implemented in 2013 (ACARA, 2011) and already the science, maths, English and history components have been formulated. There is still much work to do however.

The national curriculum sets out the content of each subject in detail but how does it propose that students in the 21^st century should be taught? What learning theories does it favour?

Learning theories can generally be grouped into either behaviourism or constructivism models (Herring, 2011). Behaviourism theories focus on learning basic skills and views learners as receivers of knowledge. Examples of behavioural models are learning the first 20 elements of the periodic table or remembering Dewey decimal classification numbers. Herring even lists writing down explanations of information literacy models as an example of behaviourism.

Constructivism is based on the premise that learners construct their own knowledge. Learning is active as students make connections to their own existing knowledge and pursue what interests them, thus enhancing understanding and boosting motivation (Herring, 2011).

There are many models of constructivism, two examples being Project Based Learning and Inquiry Based Learning. Project Based Learning directs students to generate questions, work collaboratively and generate a presentation to communicate findings back to the class. Such an approach takes advantage of information technology to seek information and synthesise it. Boss and Krauss (2007) have written extensively on how Web 2.0 tools can be used to present student findings and how the whole PBL approach motivates students.

My only concern with PBL is how appropriate its use is for children who prefer to learn individually. I am thinking here of students on the autism spectrum, many of whom have massive problems collaborating and communicating.

Another popular method of constructivism is Inquiry Based Learning which is a cyclical approach whereby students generate questions on a topic, investigate the topic, create a solution or response then evaluate the process. In the current Victorian Curriculum (VCAA, 2007) provision has been made to encourage teachers to use Inquiry Based Learning. Their website states, ‘The VELS supports an inquiry learning approach encouraging students to ask key questions for investigation throughout the domains’.

So if constructivism is encouraged in the Victorian Curriculum, how does it fare in the proposed Australian Curriculum? There is no neat category where it fits, but this may be due to the broad way the document has been drafted. There is a section entitled “General Capabilities” where items such as ICT capability, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability are housed. These capabilities all fit neatly into constructivist learning models but the document doesn’t make reference to such pedagogy specifically.

The curriculum claims that students ‘require literacy skills and ICT capability to communicate effectively across all learning areas’ and that the capabilities are meant to be ‘general and operate across the whole curriculum (ACARA, 2012).’

Mitchell and Spence (2009) detail that the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) have introduced a policy entitled ‘Statement on Guided Inquiry and the Curriculum’ which encourages teacher librarians to use constructivism pedagogies. As completion of the national curriculum nears, teachers appear to have a lot of freedom to implement constructivist learning theories into their teaching. Teacher librarians armed with their new policy paper ought to be ready for the challenge. Whether or not classroom teachers  follow suit is another question.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2011) ‘Timeline Phase 1 Curriculum’ retrieved Sept 4 2012 from www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/timeline_phase_1_curriculum.html

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2012) ‘General Capabilities’ retrieved Sept 3 2012 from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Overview/Nature-of-general-capabilities.html

Boss, Suzie and Krauss, J (2007) Reinventing Project Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real World Projects in the Digital Age. Retrieved 26 August 2012 from www.iste.org

Herring, James. E. (2011) Improving Students’ Web Use and Information Literacy: A Guide for Teachers and Teacher Librarians. Facet Publishing, London

Mitchell, Pru and Spence, Sue (2009) Inquiry into Guided Inquiry. Access (10300155) Nov, Vol.23 Issue4, pp5-8.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) (2007) What is Inquiry Learning?  Retrieved 11 August 2012 from http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/wholeschool/program/inquiry.html