Building a Community of Learners on: A Social Constructivist Approach

Abstract

In any of the education reforms advocated all over the world, no matter how sound the curriculum policies seem to be, teachers still find individual differences a major hindrance to the success of the reforms. While many educators consider diversity among students a classroom problem, some try to reduce the problem by streaming or offering different enrichment and remedial programs tailor-made for the individual student. The present study adopted an alternative approach and examined how individual differences could be taken as an important resource in developing a productive community of learners with a social constructivist basis. The positive findings of student performance in portfolio assessment reported in this study support the argument that learning should be aligned with assessment. To cater for individual differences, portfolio assessment should be adopted as it serves the following characteristics that are crucial for developing life-long learners and attaining 'success for all'. First, portfolio assessment requires students to collect and reflect on work samples, providing both an instructional component to the curriculum and offering an opportunity for authentic assessments. When carefully assembled, portfolios become an intersection of instruction and assessment which traditional assessment cannot achieve. Secondly, it yields an improved portrait of the students as ... [more]learners, using a process that encourages students to become metacognitive in regards to their learning. Thirdly, students are allowed to collect learning evidence from various sources, through multiple methods and over multiple points of time. Student diversity in intelligences is therefore being acknowledged. They do not need to compete or compare themselves with others, and therefore can learn in a safe environment.