Activity 3.4

O’Donnell would recognize that the new school environment that Bart is placed into has examples of endogenous, social, and dialectical constructivism. The first example of endogenous constructivism is when Bart is instructed for math. The teacher expects Bart to have some kind of “schema” about the math computation that she’s reviewing. Bart’s math lesson can be compared to O’Donnell’s statement, “the environment requires the use of existing structures and prompt the creation of new ones.” (p. 62-63) In addition, Bart is permitted freedom to explore during lab experiments which O’Donnell explains as “instruction is to promote the development of logical thinking through the child’s exploration of the environment.” (p. 63)

Examples of social constructivism are the social interactions that takes place during class debate and discussions. Similarly, O’Donnell explains, “learners participate in a community of learners and construct meaning from the discourse practices in that community.” (p. 63)

Lastly, dialectical constructivism is shown when Bart’s able to choose his class assignments and “learns to direct his activities.” (p. 63)