Transmission vs. Constructivism

A brief background on the two major paradigms of learning which one should know before teaching:

1. Transmission Paradigm

When you walk into a classroom, with a teacher who follows the Transmission Paradigm of learning, the learner is always the most passive one in the room. The teacher, standing at the front, is most likely repeating a mantra within their mind that follows along the lines of, "I am the teacher, you are the student. I will transmit the information to you....I am the teacher..." When using the transmission style, emphasis is placed mainly on the work the student produces and brings home. Learning is an individual activity, and often, paired work or group work is discouraged. Those who follow the Transmission paradigm, particularly in early childhood education centers, believe that there must be a strict distinction between work and play; Work is hard and boring, but leads to education. Play is meant for fun, and to be done outside of the classroom. The belief, then, is that children would rather play. Therefore, the role of the teacher is to maintain order and control children and the curriculum being taught. Learning, is of course, hard work. Children must be persuaded to work, and this is eventually what leads to rewards and punishments in the classroom. Complex processes, like reading, can be best taught by building up from the smallest parts (the sounds of the letters), to the larger wholes (the sentences themselves). This is a MICRO --> to MACRO environment. The big picture comes last.

2. Constructivist Paradigm

When you walk into a classroom with a teacher who understands and adopts the Constructivist paradigm, you will find the learner is the most active member of the environment. The learner is always creating and formulating new hypotheses by doing things within their environment. The teacher, then, is what we will call the facilitator, who creates a prepared environment, filled with structured activities that will provide the learner with opportunities to direct his/her learning. In this classroom, the emphasis is on the process, rather than the product. Learning becomes a social activity, where collaborative learning between students is highly encouraged. There is no distinction between work and play. In fact, children are introduced to real life activities in many different areas -- teachers emphasize these meaningful, relevant ideas and activities. Teachers must observe children constantly without interruption, and recognize children's errors, using these to make accurate assessments on their level of development. Learning in this kind of classroom becomes an effortless process that goes on continuously without our even trying. Under the Constructivist paradigm, complex processes like reading can best be learned by moving from the whole to the parts, and in seeing parts in the context of the whole. This is a MACRO --> MICRO environment, where the big picture and the small picture and integrated together. 

I have experienced both, I have seen work for different ages. However, at this point in my life, I believe that teachers who understand and adopt the Constructivist paradigm within their classrooms will find much greater creativity and exploration -- but this is just my belief.

Your thoughts?

Until the next time...