Constructivist vs Behaviorist

There are many different philosophical currents that dictate methods of teaching. Some of the most common are the behaviorist and the constructivist view. To truly understand what makes them so different to one another, is necessary to recognize their main characteristics. The behaviorist learning method is composed by eight steps. The first three are no more than the establishment of objectives and main purpose of a lesson to be taught. During the third and fourth step, the teacher will present the material to the students and show them in summary what is expected to be learned, and how. The teacher then will guide the students according to the parameters of the lesson, and on the seventh step they are ready to independently practice what the teacher explained before. The last step is a summary by the teacher, and the mention of possible links to future lessons or assignments. This method is more related to what we call “old school”, meaning that the teacher gives and explore the material, and the students’ participation is directly guided by the teacher, and only seen after the teacher’s input. On the other hand, the constructivist method is divided into five procedures. During the first one, a situation will be presented to the students, and the teacher has already organized his/her materials and approaches. The students are then asked to analyze such situation either individually or in groups. The students have some freedom to explore the material and its possible applications and relations to different fields and lessons. A time for questions is also given, and then the students are encouraged to exhibit for the class what they found more interesting, applicable, or relevant about the situation presented in the first place. The lesson is ended by sharing the different aspects the students had explored, any teacher’s input if needed, and reflections about each student’s point of view and contribution to the development of the lesson. As you can see, the methods are completely different from one another, and yet both have proven to be effective when given the right circumstances and directed to students who will benefit from them. The main difference is that in the constructivist method, the teacher is merely a counselor; the situation is presented and is the responsibility of the students to explore it, look for possible solutions, and share their information. There is much more collaboration between students taught by this method. The behaviorist method is more teacher-centered, and the responsibility to develop the material relies on the teacher.