The Effect of Appling Constructivist Teaching Methods on Children Ability in Critical Thinking.

Abstract

The study will determine the impact of implementing Constructivist teaching and learning methods to develop critical thinking abilities of Kindergarten children in Saudi Arabia. The study will adopt Pragmatism approach to emphasize the essential aspects, which the practice should contain to assure delivering the effective practice to the children. The study intends to conduct a practical action research using a randomly sample of Kindergarten children Saudi Arabia. The researcher will use mix methodology including: observations of the teachers‟ practices, and focus group discussions in the final stage. Initial primary exploratory research was conducted to determine the participations who were interested in applying Constructivist Teaching Methods. Then Observation will be applied for two groups (treatment and nonintervention) to explore the effect of Constructivist Teaching methods on developing critical thinking of the children. Focus group discussions will be applied for teachers to identify their perspectives of certain factors related to acquiring critical thinking skill. The main aim is to explore perceived differences in both groups of children which might indicate differences in developing critical thinking. this will help us to investigate the impact of applying Constructivist Teaching and learning methods. Rehab J. Agzagee Doi: 10.12816/jacc.2020.68459 312 Introduction The development of constructivist theory of learning has attracted my attention for several years. The main theme in my framework is constructivism as a theory about knowledge and learning. Jean Piaget launched the key idea of constructivism a long time ago. Fosnot (1996) pointed out that constructivism “was the idea that what we call knowledge does not and cannot have the purpose of producing representations of an independent reality, but instead has an adaptive function” (p.3). Piaget‟s adaptive idea started from the study of biology, in which animals try to survive with environmental difficulties. The discovery learning of Piaget influences constructivist educators in encouraging students to learn through manipulating the subject matter and the objects in their experiments. Therefore, the students will be able to develop logical and analytical thinking skills. As well, John Dewey stimulated constructivist theory with learning through experiences in field trips and outdoor activities. In addition, Howard Gardner provided educators with significant views of cognitive development of the child. Gardner advocated that learning would be more effective if we, as educators, are aware of the eight intelligences in each student. Piaget, Dewey and Gardner were the foundational researchers in the development of constructivist theory. Therefore, their legacies advocate the methods of creative constructivist teaching and learning (Fogarty, 1999). These researchers view constructivist learning as “a selfregulated process of resolving inner cognitive conflicts that often become apparent through concrete experience, collaborative discourse, and reflection” (Brooks & Brooks, 1993, p.vii). The main goal of constructivist learning is to stimulate students, to challenge their abilities and cognitive skills through an enriched environment, and to motivate them to use all their sensors to discover the truth. لفطلا ةفاقثو ملاعلإ ةيبرعلا ةللمجا دللمجا ثلاثلا ( ددعلا 01 ) رياني 0101 م 312 As educators, we can build the main strategies of the constructivist paradigm to fit in teaching both adults and children. For example, the teacher allows children to discover several essential concepts from one large idea instead of following a directed curriculum. As well, the professor and the students share the individual perspectives; the teacher provides the children with the power to choose their interests to make connections, to reformulate ideas, and to reach a conclusion by themselves (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). Certainly, Hughes, Kooy, and Kanevsky (1997) stated that the professor encourages students to construct knowledge through reflection and interaction with the presented material. In short, the teacher and the professor will set the first block of a constructivist building. In fact, constructivism and the 5E model science lesson (2004) pointed important issue of applying the organization from the teachers and professors to enroll the students in reflection, interaction, and investigation. In addition, it requires certain group and individual learning plans. preparation of an enriched constructivist environment requires knowledge of differentiated teaching strategies, multiple intelligences, valuable procedures to implement effective curriculum, the establishment of a stimulated and motivated environment, and production of organized learning plans for students. Purpose The main purpose of this article is to discover how constructivism teaching and learning strategies can affect the learning process through developing critical thinking ability of the children with the age-group 5 to 6 years from teacher‟s perspective. This study will exhibit future plans to apply constructivist approach in the teaching and learning strategies. Definition of Terms Critical thinking: A special way of considering issues or topics through using several lenses to clarify certain perspectives Rehab J. Agzagee Doi: 10.12816/jacc.2020.68459 312 Constructivism: A theory about knowledge and learning that attempts to reform education based on experimentations, questions, investigations, and syntheses Teaching: The professional process of delivering knowledge to achieve personal growth