International Seminar on 

Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur

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  Most learning theorists today agree on the importance of using a constructivist teaching-learning methodology: starting from the child’s own knowledge, and providing experiences and opportunities to reflect on these learning experiences that help the child construct knowledge for herself. However, the challenge lies in enacting this in the classroom, especially if we expect a large number of teachers to do so. The questions that arise in this context are as follows: How do we train teachers in the philosophy and practice of constructivism? How do we create the energy and enthusiasm to sustain a methodology that requires at least three times as much preparation as traditional teaching?

   iDiscoveri has been experimenting with these issues, and we would like to share our learning over the last 5 years of what works and doesn’t work when it comes to  actually implementing constructivist practice in  a typical classroom of any school. What we have learned from our experiences have been translated into significant improvements in teacher practice, and classrooms that truly help children think for themselves, connect concepts and come up with their own ideas and principles. At the same time, there has been a quantum gain in learning from programs where a lot of effort has been made in working with teachers, but a proportionate gain in practice has not been observed. At this conference, we would like to share these insights with a larger group, and contribute to furthering our collective thinking on how to put constructivism in action.