Constructivism Principles: Piaget, Vygotsky & Gestalt Psychology

Constructivism: Principles and Roots

Constructivism: Principles:

• Students themselves construct knowledge.
• The student actively constructs knowledge by linking new information with what is in their memory.
• The teacher's role is limited to that of a facilitator of learning and understanding.
• Construction of knowledge is more important than its mere acumulación (accumulation).

Roots of Constructivism

1. Gestalt psychology
2. Piaget's theory
3. Vygotsky's theory

Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology recognizes the importance of studying the mind. Different currents aim to study the mind to discover its basic components and operation. For the Gestaltists, however, the study of experience as a todo (whole) is essential: nothing must be deformed or broken down into its elements.

• Main study object: perception.
• Main contribution to the study of learning: insight.

Insight (Köhler, 1925)

Insight is the "reorganization of the perceptual field," which involves the perception of stimuli and their mutual relations: the emergence of a gestalt. The solution to the problem does not occur by trial and error but the animal observes the situation, suddenly understands the problem, and sees the solution. Knowledge is not generated by an addition or association of elements but by a restructuring of these elements that gives them a unified and meaningful form. Learning occurs when we understand.

Piaget: Knowledge and Adaptation

The goal of Piaget: cognitive development and learning are processes of adaptation. Adaptation is found when encountering new situations that create cognitive conflict; the conflict is solved by the processes of equilibration.

How do we acquire knowledge?

Invariant functioning: two basic processes of adaptation:

1. Assimilation: a process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing patterns of action or representation. A necessary condition is the existence of an internal structure that can assimilate new information.
2. Accommodation: it involves the modification of existing schemes to accommodate a new, complex experience.

Both processes are complementary.

Schemes

• Schemes are basic structures for building knowledge.
• Schemes are in continuous development through the processes of assimilation and accommodation (learning processes).

Vygotsky: Social Nature of Development

Vygotsky's cognitive development is a social process: it is produced by the interaction of the child with others (mainly with others who are more experienced). Instruction precedes development (law of double training). Mental functions occur first at the social level and are then internalized by the individual; the child internally reconstructs any external operation.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Where do you place instruction? In the Zone of Proximal Development. The ZPD is the distance between the actual level of development—determined by the ability to independently solve a problem—and the level of potential development—determined through the resolution of a problem under the guidance of an adult or a more capable peer.