Developing a co-constructed classroom - week 5

Textbook reading - chapter 11 - Teachers and pupils incorporated
Gina Blackbury and Deb Woods 
In a co-constructed classroom the teacher moves away from being the 'authority' of information and becomes a 'guide on the side'. This opens the classroom up to be an inquiry based and experiential learning process. Through multi-model technologies such as the internet, skype, email and youtube students can explore subjects rather than just learn them.

The chapter follows a teacher 'Deb' as she is pushed out of her comfort zone to introduce her students to a different way of learning. One of the ways she did this was by letting go of the need to know everything before she taught it to her students. A co-constructed classroom values the teacher as a learner and she used this to her advantage by changing her pedagogy to get the class to teach each other. She twisted the tables on them and let them search out answers to problems and teach each-other.

There are so many benefits to having a co-constructed learning environment and the textbook outlines these. It outlines the benefits for both the students and the teacher. Some of these are:

Student

• pupils become highly engaged and motivated
• they become independent, self-regulated learners
• it encourages peer collaboration and communication
• pupils interests are identified and incorporated into the curriculum
• individualised learning programs and a self paced environment
• a community based learning environment, peer-to-peer, peer-to-teacher and teacher-to-peer learning.

Teacher

• more time to observe students which supports ongoing assessment practices
• reduction of anxiety and feeling they need to 'know it all'
• pupil motivation translates to productivity

As we can see dot pointed above this type of classroom is beneficial to both student and teacher and is a healthy addition to classroom pedagogy.

Reference:
Blackberry, G., & Woods, D. (2015). Teachers and pupils incorporated, Developing a co-constructed classroom. In S. Younie, M. Leask & K. Burden (Eds.), Teaching and learning with ICT in the primary school. New York: Routledge.