The relationship between knowledge, constructivism and learning: Application

through Inquiry

Baljeet Gill

ETEC 530 66A

Diane Janes
University of British Columbia

June 22, 2016

While earning my Bachelors of Education from the University of British Columbia, much of my
time was spent learning about many theories, including constructivism, about teaching children
the BC Curriculum, how to assess effectively, efficiently and fairly, and how to be aware of their
social and emotional needs. Very little time, if any, was spent on the question: what is
knowledge? Over the course of the past eight weeks, I have been exploring this question
through Duncan Pritchards text, What Is This Thing Called Knowledge?

In the early weeks of my reading, I spoke about the shift in the British Columbia curriculum and
the idea of knowledge as a form of currency. In my opinion, the shift in the curriculum in this
province is completely in line with a focus on inquiry learning and allowing for a more
constructivist approach. It could be argued that teachers always had the autonomy to use this
theory with their practice, but with the reduction of core content in each course, teachers have
been given the time needed to properly explore ideas. The reduction in content also falls in line
with the economic theory of supply and demand. With much of the worlds information and
knowledge available at the tips of our fingers, the value of this information has gone down; In
turn, we must align our education system to align with this devaluation. Knowledge, as
Pritchard (2014) defines is for one to have a belief that is true, but also to remove any element
of luck from the equation. Thirty years ago, it would have sounded ridiculous to the average
person that we would be able to search any subject matter we wanted on our computers and
we could receive reliable results. Further, we could seek out specific forms of knowledge, such
as testimonial knowledge to scientific knowledge, depending on our needs. With this ease of
access, we can explore how constructivism, the idea that educators can challenge student
misconception and provide the time to explore, investigate, and reconstruct their knowledge
and understanding (Nargund-Joshi & Bautista, 2016, p.25) relates to our current practice as
educators.

For a more thorough examination of constructivism, we can explore Fosnots (2005) book
Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives and Practice. In this text, the author describes
constructivism as knowledge that is constructed by ones own experience as opposed to
transmitted truths. Further, Fosnot (2005) goes on to argue that in order for educational
reform to be successful and not just another fad, educators must understand the fundamental
difference constructivism proposes. The Rick Hansen Secondary School of Science and Business
went through a transition this past year with inquiry and project based learning at its core. All
staff were provided with extensive training on what makes project based learning and inquiry
learning effective and how to implement. Much of what we learned was about crafting
effective driving questions; the overarching questions that lead the inquiry process. Through
the process of inquiry, students were able to experience the learning in a new way because
they had to discover content, draw their connections, delve deeper where they had a lack of
understanding and ultimately build their own knowledge base. Through this constructivist
learning approach, students are able answer the Big Questions that are now a part of every
K-12 course in the province.

Explanation of Pinterest Board: Constructivism, Knowledge, and Education

https://www.pinterest.com/baljeetsgill/constructivism-knowledge-and-education/

The pins that I chose for my Pinterest board revolve around a few ideas that I think are
paramount in knowledge acquisition and constructivism. The images that show complex
highways represent the idea that we can follow many different paths on our inquiry journey
and these choices can still get us to our destination; it may just look different than others in the
classroom or on the same journey. The image showing the Lego key holder represents that
great things that can come from inquiry and what can happen when we are very comfortable
with the content (in this case the workings of Lego). The images that show nature and
preschool children in nature represent the idea that we must interact directly and build our
knowledge from our own experiences. I hope the board serves some usefulness to you as well.
References

Building Student Success - BC's New Curriculum. (2016). Retrieved June 18, 2016, from
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

Fosnot, C.T. (2005). Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice [Kindle Edition].

Nargund-Joshi, V., & Bautista, N. (2016). Which Comes First Language or Content?. Science
Teacher, 83(4), 24-30.

Pritchard, D. (2013). What is this thing called knowledge?. Routledge.