The classroom that prepares students to master Skills for Success is a classroom that reflects the design principles of constructivism. Specifically, such classrooms acknowledge that learning is a self-regulated process of resolving inner cognitive conflicts that arise when students are actively engaged in concrete experience, collaborative discourse, and reflection.

A Look at School Environments

Traditional Classrooms

Constructivist Classrooms

Curriculum is presented part to whole, with emphasis on basic skills. Strict adherence to fixed curriculum is highly valued. Curricular activities rely heavily on textbooks and workbooks. Students are viewed as "blank slates" onto which information is etched by the teacher. Teachers generally behave in a didactic manner, disseminating information to students. Teachers seek the correct answer to validate student learning. Students learn that school is about learning "what the teacher tells them." Assessment of student learning is viewed as separate from teaching and occurs almost entirely through testing. Students primarily work alone.

Curriculum is presented whole to part with emphasis on big concepts. Pursuit of student questions is highly valued. Curricular activities rely heavily on primary sources of data and manipulative materials. Students are viewed as thinkers with emerging theories about the world. Teachers generally behave in an interactive manner, mediating the environment for students. Teachers seek the students' points of view in order to understand students' present conceptions for use in subsequent lessons. Assessment of student learning is interwoven with teaching, including observations and student exhibitions and portfolios. Students primarily work in groups.

Source: J. G. Brooks and M. G. Brooks. The Case for Constructivist Classrooms (1993)

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