Who wants to be a teacher? an exploration of the theory of communal constructivism at the chalk face

Abstract

The application of a new theory of communal constructivism, where learners build knowledge not only with each other (social constructivism), but also for each other is described. The authors developed the theory, while designing and implementing a Masters level course (in IT and Education) and this article explores the practicalities of applying the idea at the chalk face in an Irish primary school. Students in the school took part in a research project in which they made extensive use of ICT, peer tutoring and other aspects of communal constructivism. In particular, the roles of student and teacher were deliberately blurred, with the children tutoring not only their peers, but also their teachers. The learning outcomes have been very positive. Rather than passively moving through their school as water through a sieve these students have travelled as a river, actively enriching the experiences of their peers and the whole school through their own learning. The student materials are documented as a record of their own achievements and a gift to others. From the viewpoint of teacher education, the best result of all is that students have had a valuable internship in teaching as a profession and thus communal constructivism may support an increase in understanding of both the difficulties and the joys of teaching. As part of the application of the theory, the authorshave written this article so it embodies the multi-vocal aspect of the theory of communal constructivism. The primary schools students are included as authors and not mere data subjects, and explicit expression is given to the different voices of each of the authors: voice 1 - teacher/postgraduate student; voice 2 - academics; voice 3 primary school students. Finally the work of the primary school students, which is an integral part of this article, is available at HYPERLINK "http://www.geocities.com/minimeie2/"