playing, so as to be able to effectively address educational issues such as pupils’ social interaction, their needs and interests, and their ability to engage in independent problem solving. A of is yet another role of the teacher in LCI as identified “co-constructor knowledge” by Ebbeck and Chan (2011). This involves helping pupils to their own “construct learning in a seamless, integrated and holistic 2011, p. 458) and also calls way” (ibid for the teacher to be actively involved in the learning. pupils’ It is important to note that in constructivist teaching there is also a change in the roles of the pupils which mirror those of the teachers. main tasks according to Pupils’ (2001) are to construct for themselves new knowledge from prior knowledge and develop problem solving and critical thinking skills. Since the construction of knowledge is based on individual experiences, it is essential that opportunities be provided for each pupil to understand information gained from new situations and to fit this information into already existing schemas (Anderson, 2005). Terhart (2003) described learning as situation and context dependent and pointed out that the process of construction at (p. 31). Rather, learning “never starts ground zero” occurs when the previous ideas and concepts are extended or altered by their learners’ new ideas and concepts (Gouws and Dicker, 2011). This creation or recreation of knowledge must be done by the pupils themselves (Perkins, 1999) as genuine learning is not a passive activity (Rallis, 1995; Gordon, 2009) but one that requires pupils to actively construct own meanings for an event, object, person, idea or “their activity” (Rallis 1995, p. 226) as well as to be open-minded to accept new information. Involvement in activities that require them to be in the “active, scholarly participators learning p. 39) is therefore essential for the pupils. It is critical process” (Rallis 1995, that attainments and differences be appreciated and all children be expected to pupils’ participate in and contribute to their learning. Rather than merely following directions or memorizing facts they are encouraged to make discoveries, engage in critical thinking, talk about their constructs and use the information acquired (Rallis, 1995). Supporting the view that knowledge is constructed on two distinct grounds, namely the personal and social was Kumar (2011). Terwell (1999) however pointed out that
playing, so as to be able to effectively address educational issues such as pupils’ social interaction, their needs and interests, and their ability to engage in independent problem solving. A “co-constructor of knowledge” is yet another role of the teacher in LCI as identified by Ebbeck and Chan (2011). This involves helping pupils to “construct their own learning in a seamless, integrated and holistic way” (ibid 2011, p. 458) and also calls for the teacher to be actively involved in the pupils’ learning. It is important to note that in constructivist teaching there is also a change in the roles of the pupils which mirror those of the teachers. Pupils’ main tasks according to (2001) are to construct for themselves new knowledge from prior knowledge and develop problem solving and critical thinking skills. Since the construction of knowledge is based on individual experiences, it is essential that opportunities be provided for each pupil to understand information gained from new situations and to fit this information into already existing schemas (Anderson, 2005). Terhart (2003) described learning as situation and context dependent and pointed out that the process of construction “never starts at ground zero” (p. 31). Rather, learning occurs when the learners’ previous ideas and concepts are extended or altered by their new ideas and concepts (Gouws and Dicker, 2011). This creation or recreation of knowledge must be done by the pupils themselves (Perkins, 1999) as genuine learning is not a passive activity (Rallis, 1995; Gordon, 2009) but one that requires pupils to actively construct “their own meanings for an event, object, person, idea or activity” (Rallis 1995, p. 226) as well as to be open-minded to accept new information. Involvement in activities that require them to be “active, scholarly participators in the learning process” (Rallis 1995, p. 39) is therefore essential for the pupils. It is critical that pupils’ attainments and differences be appreciated and all children be expected to participate in and contribute to their learning. Rather than merely following directions or memorizing facts they are encouraged to make discoveries, engage in critical thinking, talk about their constructs and use the information acquired (Rallis, 1995). Supporting the view that knowledge is constructed on two distinct grounds, namely the personal and social was Kumar (2011). Terwell (1999) however pointed out that