Social Constructivism
Social constructivism focuses on the cognition social nature and also suggests the approaches that can give the learner an opportunity to have concrete, meaningful experience through which patterns are searched, and questions are raised to construct models. A community of learners is facilitated to participate in an activity, reflection, or discourse. The students are encouraged to take ownership of ideas and pursue the autonomy of social relations.
Learning Through Interactions
Social constructivism stresses that all the cognitive functions depend on the interactions with others like the peers, teachers, and parents. So, learning is dependent on the collaborative process qualities within the community, which is context and situation specific bound. Learning is more than the new knowledge assimilation by an individual; the learners get integrated into the knowledge community. In social constructivism, nothing is learnt from the beginning, everything is learnt from the knowledge that exists, and new information is integrated, and the existing of understanding is expanded. The learner should, therefore, embed the new ideas with the existing and the understanding expands to hold the new experience. The learner's world of view is always subjective because the individual will interpret the experiences through the existing frameworks of understanding and develop unique views.
History of Social Constructivism
The modern form of social constructivism has been there for about 40 years. It is known as a learning theory that has roots in the cognitive constructivism and sociological theory. It is epistemology or a philosophical explanation about learning nature.
The Construction of Knowledge
Knowledge is a human product that is culturally and socially constructed, this is according to social constructivism, and it is not something that can be discovered. Knowledge cannot be tied to the mind or the external world; it is an outcome of the mental contradictions from the interactions with others in a given environment. Learning is based on the real adaptive problem solving that occurs socially through the shared experience and interaction with others. The new ideas are matched with the knowledge that is existing. The learner adapts the rules that can make sense of the environment. Social constructivism puts its focus on the new learners in a social group, the learning process emerges from the interactions in the social group, and it is not something that an individual can do within. Learning is an active process socially.
Multiple Realities
The social constructivists suggest that the reality is not discovered through human activity, but it is constructed, the societies invent the world properties. The sharing of perspectives or the collaborative elaboration helps the learners to construct an understanding together which cannot be possible alone. It is possible for individuals to share meanings that can be negotiated by discussing, but two cannot have a similar discussion with the same individual, this leads to multiple realities.
Motivation and Influences
The learners are motivated by both the intrinsic and extrinsic roots as regarded by social constructivism. Curiosity about the world is created by the intrinsic motivation, and the knowledge provides the rewards. Social constructivism is associated with Lev Vygotsky, developmental theorist and Albert Bandura, psychologist. It is also incorporated in the theories of Piaget, Dewey, and Bruner.
Race and Racism
A race is a social construct that is being shaped by a group that is dominating in the society. A race is not defined by genes; it is the society that has defined some people to fit in some of the groups. For example, the whites have always felt supreme to any other race in the world. The term race is used to rationalize the different treatment of other communities that are not dominating. According to social constructivism, race constitutes of members from a particular community and it exists because the members have agreed to act as if it exists. There is no scientific proof showing differences in a race; it is the society that has constructed race. Biologically there is no evidence of race, because no group is smarter, stronger or better than another group. The idea of race was constructed to justify inequality.
History and Perception of Race
In the recent past, humans were not categorized by their physical differences, but by lineage, nationality, religion, culture and language. The term race began slowly from the idea of slavery, but people were not enslaved because of their physical attributes like color, but from debt and war. The Europeans classified people into three categories in the 16 century. The categories were the European, Asians, and Africans. The term was used to justify colonization and superiority.
Health and Technology
The idea of illness in social constructivism is based on reality concept. There are only individuals' perceptions of illness and there are no objective realities about it. Health in social constructivism deals with various issues because the patients control how the diseases are revealed and also the different lifestyles adapted may help to cope with some illnesses. The individual personality and culture play a significant role in illness construction. Illnesses that last longer can make an individual's world smaller, and more defined by the illness. For some people, illness can give them a chance to discover and reimage themselves afresh. Culture determines how the individual will experience a particular illness. The widespread diseases have specific markers that change over some time, and they govern how the society and the individuals view them. Various institutions have acknowledged the degree to which the society perceptions shape an individual's illness and health.
Power and Privilege
The institutions of the society can be the parts of social life which direct possible actions and the elements of social structure. The institutions include the government, education, media, family, workplaces, and others. The institutions structure or direct possible social action, this means that there are rules, procedures, and norms within the institutions, which limit the actions taken. For example, a family is structured and specified culturally and historically. A family includes parents and children who are biologically related. A family has a division of labor where the father is the provider, and the mother takes care of the children. Families vary from one community to another in different ways. Friends, pets, and lovers may be considered as a family, but the legal system does not affirm the possibilities. The normative notion of the parents and the children structure are considered when most people think of who is their family member.
The Structures of Power
The structures of power overlie the social structures. Power can mean the access through or to the social institutions in a community and the processes of valuing, normalizing, and privileging some identities over others. The definition of power shows the structural and institutional nature of power and how culture works in different ways to create various privileges in different classes in a community. Power can be organized according to gender, class, race, ability, sexuality, nation, age, and even religious identities. Some of these identities are more valued and normalized than others, because they are contrasted with the identities that are thought to be of less value. The identities describe individuals and also grant them a collective access to the social life of various institutions.
Conclusion
The social world is developed out of the interactions among individuals with their society and culture. Knowledge is gained through the process of negotiation and evaluation of the productivity of how an individual understanding socially. A conversation between two individuals can be an opportunity to develop or gain new knowledge. Ideas and concepts are exchanged. Social constructivism can be applied in various concepts like race, health, and power. It shows that these concepts and others developed as a result of interactions and use of language. Knowledge results from different social interactions and processes and not from observing the world. Therefore, social constructivism attaches its meaning to learning processes and the acquisition of knowledge. For example, a race is social construct which was developed to justify inequality in the society. According to social constructivism, the individual personality and culture plays a significant role in illness construction. Illnesses that last longer can make an individual's world smaller, and more defined by the illness. Power can mean the access through or to the social institutions in a community and the processes of valuing, normalizing, and privileging some identities over others. The definition of power shows the structural and institutional nature of power and how culture works in different ways to create various privileges in different classes in a community; this is also a social construct.
References
Kukla, A. (2013). Social constructivism and the philosophy of science. Routledge.
Young, M. (2007). Bringing knowledge back in: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. Routledge.
Courtenay, W. H. (2000). Engendering health: A social constructionist examination of men's health beliefs and behaviors. Psychology of Men " Masculinity, 1(1), 4.
Carel, H., " Cooper, R. (2014). Health and disease: Social constructivism as a combination of naturalism and normativism. In Health, illness and disease (pp. 49-68). Routledge.
Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics. International organization, 46(2), 391-425.
