What is Meant by “Knowledge is Socially Constructed”and Does Constructivism Promote Academic Excellence?

The number one cause of death among castaways is not food, water, or shelter. It is isolation. There is no one to talk to, to bounce ideas off of, or to keep their hopes up. We humans are social creatures. We get endorphin rushes just communicating. We need each other to build ideas. So why would we want our students to learn alone? We don’t. Listening to a lecture is like listening to the sea; there are no endorphins involved. Students need to bounce ideas off of each other as much as Tom Hanks needed Wilson. He needed hope. Our students need to work in groups to brainstorm concepts, test them in the tempest of the group collective, and arrive at the socially constructed answer.

“Using cooperative learning helps teachers lay the foundation for student success in a world that depends on collaboration and cooperation.” (Dean et al., 2012, p.35) When students are put together in groups to solve a problem, they chat or communicate in some fashion. This communication is not only about the problem, it is subtly organizing power among the members and students volunteer information that may not have occurred to the rest of the members. The group also lets members know when they have an error in their thinking, usually in a gentle way. They organize and divide the tasks and ensure that all members are completing the work, without micromanaging. The members of the group learn the content as they collate and report their findings. This knowledge the group has gained about their reported subject has been socially constructed.  

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.