Constructivist Pedagogy Virginia Richardson Analysis

In the essay “Constructivist Pedagogy” by Virginia Richardson, educators are offered insight in regards to educational instructional practices in constructivism. To understand what the constructivist pedagogy is and how it is used, one must first look to the root definition of this type of instruction. Constructivism is a theory that is based on observation and research and the constructivist theory is the “theory of learning or meaning making, that individuals create their own new understandings on the basis of an interaction between what they already know and believe and ideas and knowledge with which they come into contact.” Educators, philosophers, and scientific researchers argue about constructivism whether it is “theory of learning”
Teachers must have the mindset of wanting to teach so that their students to understand. Then they must use appropriate instructional techniques to make this goal a reality. It is said that errors in this way of teaching occur from a lack of an accurate understanding of this theory. There seems to be no official formula on how to be a constructivist teacher, which allows for educations use his or her own unique approaches to being an effective constructivist teacher. This type of teaching breaks away from the typical or the known practices like using pre-made lessons, readers, or cliché activities. A notable concern when attempting this method of teaching is the idea that there is no need for any structure in education because students need to figure everything out on their own and that there is “no [one] right answer.” Since constructivism can be found more clearly within specific content areas, it is wise to investigate the effectiveness and the realisticness through a given subject matter; this leads to asking the question: does teachers’ subject-matter knowledge play into the effective use of the constructivist theory? There is no known research that gives an answer to this question, only personal
The constructivist pedagogical theory is no different in this way than any other educational practice. One area that should be studied in the constructivist theory is cultural differences. It would be beneficial for the educator to identify “cultural, political and economic constraints and ideologies” and see where constructivism fits in the practices of these things. Identifying specific cultural views and understanding the prior knowledge the learner holds could be helpful to the educator when tailoring instruction so that the student receives the instruction they way it was intended to come across. The constructivist pedagogy can still be used when tailoring instruction based on the cultural background of the students though it may look a slightly