Social constructivism

That learners are passive is one of the main ideas emerging from the theory of behaviourism. The social constructivist perspective argues that a learner is at the centre of the learning process and that learning is mediated through social interaction. Currently in Saudi Arabia passive, teacher-centred learning remains the norm despite a shift to interactive learning in many other countries in recent years. This section will focus on social constructivism and consider different criteria in order to make a thorough analysis of social constructivism as a learning approach. This is important as it will form the basis of the pedagogical design and interpretation of data in this thesis. Different accounts of the approach will also be considered. In the current academic world, constructivism appears to dominate the educational process (Fox, 2001). The first criterion to be used in this paper is the adequacy of the underlying assumptions in each account. The logical coherence of each account will also be considered, together with evidence of the strength of each in comparison to the others.

The Russian physiologist Vygotsky (1896-1934) developed the theory of social development. This argues that social interaction is central to development as it

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mediates the learning process as it evolves, and that both consciousness and cognition are the final outcomes of social behaviour.

According to Vygotsky (1987), interaction through speech has great value in the learning process. Children generally develop their own ways of understanding and solving the problems they might face; and speech interaction comes as the first step in this, which means they might deal with these problems abstractly. One of the most interesting points Vygotsky made is that children can find ways to develop quickly and might reach the abstract level sooner or later, depending on the value of mediation they receive. It is worth noting at this point that although Piaget and Vygotsky, whose work was only made available to the wider public from the late 1970s onwards, worked on similar theories simultaneously.

Another interesting area explored by Vygotsky is the role of mediation in child development. He observed that higher mental functions developed historically within particular cultural groups, as well as individually through social interactions with significant people in a child's life. These are usually parents; however, as a number of research studies have indicated, they can also be other adults and peers. In the course of his work, Vygotsky realised that children absorb the mind-set of their culture through the culture itself and their environment. Furthermore, the activities in which children engage within their society can help them to learn and improve the most important skills they might need. All children develop both their own tools and their own, unique uses for them.

Vygotsky (1978) described interaction between students as an effective method with which to develop their skills and strategies. Teachers use cooperative learning forms, where the tutor mediates the tutee’s learning within the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky believed that when a student is solving a learning problem in the ZPD, providing suitable help will enhance the student’s ability to succeed in the

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task. In other words, the tutee will achieve a better quality of learning when it is mediated by the tutor than when he or she learns alone. Vygotsky’s theory draws three main conclusions. Firstly, social interaction plays a fundamental role in the cognitive development process.

According to Vygotsky (1978),

Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological) (p. 57).

This shows how important a role social activities play in a child’s cognitive development.

Secondly, although the significant other refers to a person who has more knowledge than the learner, such as a teacher or coach, they can also be a peer, a young person, or anyone else who can enhance the development of the learner’s knowledge.

The third conclusion is that the learning takes place between the student’s ability to address a task under adult supervision or peer cooperation and their ability to solve the problem independently. This phenomenon is called the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (ZPD).

Vygotsky defines the ZPD as

the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers. (Vygotsky, 1987, P.86).

According to Vygotsky, culture plays important role in the learning process as learners use tools that have been developed in the sociocultural context. These tools

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help learners achieve higher levels of thinking skills. Vygotsky’s theory shows how important the active roles in the learning process are. It also bridges the gap between what is known and what can be known. In other words, within the social learning environment students build their own knowledge through cooperation with adults or peers with better or more experience. Currently, in Saudi Arabia, instruction is teacher-centred and students are entirely passive, as mentioned previously. This study seeks to determine whether students’ learning would be enhanced by active participation in their own learning, through interaction both with teachers and with peers, and by the use of tools, in line with Vygotsky’s theory.

Social constructivism is an approach that identifies learning as a social process: that is, learners construct their knowledge socially, learning from each other. In this approach, social activities have valuable roles. Each person, according to social constructivism, can simultaneously be a learner and a teacher with their own important and effective role in the learning process (Philips & Soltis, 2004). Sciences, such as mathematics and chemistry, are socially based: they are built and improved through people’s needs, such as discovering new power resources and developing new tools (Philips & Soltis, 2004). Every society also has its own constructs of learning. Humans lead social lives, thereby supporting the social constructivists’ beliefs (Philips & Soltis, 2004). According to Gredler (1997), there are three main differences between personal constructivism and social constructivism. These differences are the way in which knowledge is defined, the way in which learning is defined and the location of learning. Brophy (2002) concluded the introduction of his book “Social Constructivist Teaching: Affordances and Constraints” with some suggestions and recommendations for those interested in the constructivist approach, indicating a number of points for emphasis. Firstly, meaningfulness is the real aim of learning: that is, learners must construct their

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knowledge for use in their own lives and must use new information at the most appropriate time. A teacher’s role is to build a social environment and use it to help students achieve the highest level of understanding. Brophy holds that both teachers and students are important components in the education process and appreciating their different roles can help reach meaningful understanding. Lessons must be well organised and have clear aims; and they should stimulate students and give them opportunities to raise questions which can encourage meaningful learning.

This explains both Brophy’s stance on the role of both learners and teachers, particularly teachers who are responsible for preparing lessons, as well as the importance of giving students opportunities to raise questions during lessons and of helping them search for a deeper understanding as opposed to simply being receptive students. Encouraging students to raise questions can help teachers identify and explain any unclear concepts during the learning process.

Classroom environments should be active environments and should encourage discussion throughout the learning process. Discussion emerges as one of Brophy’s (2002) preferred methods because it can help students become active learners and encourage their involvement in activities that can help teachers to ensure meaningful understanding is taking place. Moreover, students should build their own knowledge through discourse and exchange of experiences. In Brophy’s (2002) opinion, although teachers have important and effective roles in the learning processes, learners are responsible for taking advantage of the discourses provided by teachers in order to build their knowledge. Although this advice and these recommendations were intended for teachers who want to use a social constructivism approach, they also give some insight into how it might work.

In order to develop an effective learning approach which improves Saudi students’ mathematics learning, a number of approaches could be taken into consideration,

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including an approach based on social constructivist theories in which the students are central to the learning process and enhance the learning mediation. This present study seeks such an approach, as currently in Saudi Arabia, learning outcomes in mathematics, as well as in other subjects, are generally poor. Hence, it is of great importance to find an approach which will improve these outcomes. Further, when such an approach has been identified, it is vital to test it to ensure that it will be effective in Saudi Arabia and be appropriate to Saudi culture.