Constructivism in the Arts and Humanities
Published by Jonathan Bratt
Central to teaching and learning in the Arts and Humanities is inductive reasoning. This is to be expected given that teaching in this discipline is primarily about promoting intellectual growth and encouraging curiosity in students. Students in this field are eager to learn about the world around them and the best way that we as teachers can help them is by encouraging them to learn how to learn.
IBL (inquiry-based learning) is an important teaching approach in this regard. An emphasis is placed on developing critical and creative thought processes in the students; they learn to take more control of their own education. IBL is an inductive form of pedagogy, which while not exclusive to the Arts and Humanities, is extremely useful to this discipline. A constructivist learning approach such as IBL enables a student-centered pedagogical model well-suited to the self-development which is at the heart of the Arts and Humanities.
Constructivism has worked well for me in the classroom. I find this approach allows more interaction with my students as we explore the world of film together, my students become student-teachers and I become a teacher-student. An active interpretation of the learning process is central to my teaching methods and I think this is due to the nature of the Arts and Humanities. This is not to say that exams as tools of assessment have no place in my classroom but rather, that I value a process of assessment that provides a narrative of each student’s intellectual growth, not just a snapshot.
The Arts and Humanities is a discipline which is less concerned with methodology and more concerned with placing the process of teaching and learning in a contextual framework which allows for continuous feedback in both directions. This is something which might be found in other disciplines but does not play as central a role as it does in the Arts and Humanities.
There is ambiguity in the Arts and Humanities; this discipline is not as clear-cut as a scientific discipline might be. This ambiguity, for example, in the art of film, provides a strong incentive for teachers to use constructivism (e.g. IBL) as a teaching approach. The right teaching approach allows for flexibility in assisting and assessing our students as they develop as lifelong learners.