Social Constructivism and Teaching of Social Science
Social Constructivism and Teaching of Social Science
The paper presents an overview of prevailing pedagogic practices of social science at school level in India. It has been sketched with the help of social science teachers’ interviews. The analysis of teachers’ interview revealed that the teaching of social science is a reflection of teacher’s own biases and beliefs; dominated by deficit model of thinking and learning. Against this backdrop the paper tries to address the question do we have any alternative of ‘deficit model’ of teaching learning? If yes, what is it? How it can be designed and executed? In the present descriptive study the researcher adopts the theoretical underpinnings of Socio-cultural approach to learning and tries to design and execute constructivist pedagogic setting for teaching social science. It emerges from the analysis of these constructivists pedagogic settings that it helps to develop and sustain a culture of inquiry in the classroom where the strong interface between students’ everyday knowledge and school knowledge take place. The paper establishes the argument that for moving deficit model of teaching-learning, knowledge should be viewed as co-constructed, negotiated and situated entity, knower should have agency and the voice in process of knowing and the process learning should be dialogic.
Keywords:
Funds of Knowledge, Social Constructivism Social Sciences,
___
- Brophy, J. (ed.) (2002). Social constructivist teaching: affordances and constraints. Boston: Elsevier
- Bruner, J. S. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard University Press Daniels, H. ( 2001). Vygotsky and pedagogy. London: Roultledge Palmer
- Davies, B. (1994). On the neglect of pedagogy in educational studies and its consequences, British Journal of In-Service Education 20:1 pp 17-34
- Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education, New York: The Free Press.
- Goss, M. (2004). Learning mathematics in a classroom community of inquiry, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 35(4), pp. 2558-291
- Hughes, M. & Pollard, A. (2006). Home-school knowledge exchange in context. Educational Review, 58(4), pp. 385-395
- Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated learning-legitimate peripheral participation, New york, U.S.A.: Cambridge University Press.
- Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
- Leach, J. & Moon, B. (eds.). (1999). Learners and pedagogy, London: Open University Press
- Moll L. C. & Greenberg, J. (1990). Creating zones of possibilities: combining social contexts for instruction. In L.C. Moll (ed.), Vygotsky and education pp. 319-348. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D. & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory in Practice, 31 (2), pp. 132-141
- N.C.E.R.T. (2005). National curriculum framewrok. New Delhi: N.C.E.R.T.
- Ogle, D. , Klemp, R. & McBride, B. (2007). Building literacy in social studies: strategies for improving comprehension and critical thinking, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
- Riojas-Cortez, M. (2001). Preschoolers’ funds of knowledge displayed through sociodramatic play episodes in a bilingual classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(1), pp. 35-40.
- Rogoff, B. (1998). Cognition as a collaborative process. In D. Kuhn & R.S. Siegler (eds.) Handbook of child psychology, pp. 679-744 New York :John Wiley
- Slavin, R. E. (1995). Cooperative learning and intergroup relations. In J.A. Banks (ed.), Handbook of multicultural education pp. 628-634, New York: McMillan
- Velez-Ibanez, C. & Greenberg, J. (1992). Formation and transformation of funds of knowledge among U.S.-Mexican households. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 23 (4), pp. 313-335
- Vygotsky, L. (1987). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, M.A., Harvard University Press
- Wertsch , J. (1997). Mind in action. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Wineberg, S. & Martin, D. (2004). Reading and writing history, Educational Leadership, 62 (1), 42-45
- Başlangıç: 2010
- Yayıncı: Bülent TARMAN