Difference Between Behaviourism and Contructivism When Applied to Drama
The relationship between a teacher and student is one based on learning. It is the teacher’s role in the relationship to facilitate this learning during the time a student is at school. Yet the way in which a teacher can teach has long been a contentious issue. There have been and will continue to be numerous theories behind the way a student learns best. These theorists have examined the teaching practices and drawn conclusions to what good and bad teaching practice look like. Each theory is different, some subtly and others wildly. In this essay I will explore the differences between behaviourism and constructivism when applied to the method of drama.
Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge (Ashman and Conway 1997). If someone has gained knowledge then they have been through the process of learning. The knowledge learnt does not have to be restricted to anything in particular. It could include the knowledge being able to relate to others including your peers. All students learn differently, this is one factor most theorists actually agree on. These differences allow teachers to use a variety of different methods in the classroom to ensure that their students are all learning. Therefore it is critical to a teacher to have a sound understanding of how their students learn in order for them to be able to teach them effectively. Without this knowledge the teacher would be ineffective in passing on the knowledge to their students and thus the teacher doesn’t fulfil their part of the relationship.
Howard Gardner, in 1983, came to the conclusion that learning could be broken down into eight different ways. These include Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. Clausen-May (2005) suggests that most schools focus heavily on the logical and verbal based learning when teaching; he used the example of mathematics to demonstrate this. Such teaching could, and general does,
Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge (Ashman and Conway 1997). If someone has gained knowledge then they have been through the process of learning. The knowledge learnt does not have to be restricted to anything in particular. It could include the knowledge being able to relate to others including your peers. All students learn differently, this is one factor most theorists actually agree on. These differences allow teachers to use a variety of different methods in the classroom to ensure that their students are all learning. Therefore it is critical to a teacher to have a sound understanding of how their students learn in order for them to be able to teach them effectively. Without this knowledge the teacher would be ineffective in passing on the knowledge to their students and thus the teacher doesn’t fulfil their part of the relationship.
Howard Gardner, in 1983, came to the conclusion that learning could be broken down into eight different ways. These include Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. Clausen-May (2005) suggests that most schools focus heavily on the logical and verbal based learning when teaching; he used the example of mathematics to demonstrate this. Such teaching could, and general does,
Bibliography: Crawford, K., 1996, Vygotskian approaches to human development in the information era. Educational Studies in Mathematics. (31) 43-62. Vygotsky, L.S., 1978, Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Clausen-May. T., 2005, Teaching Maths to Pupils with Different Learning Styles, SAGE Ltd., UK Pritchard, A., 2009, Ways of Learning: Learning Theories and Learning Styles in the Classroom, Routledge, USA Schunk, Dale H., 2008, ‘Constructivist Theory’, in Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (5th ed.), Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA Child, D., 1997, Psychology and the Teacher (6th ed.), Cassell, London, 1997 Ozgur OZER, O., 2003, ‘CONSTRUCTIVISM in Piaget and Vygotsky’, The Fountain, 48, sourced from http://www.fountainmagazine.com/article.php?ARTICLEID=418 on 19th March 2010.