Parallel Paths To Constructivism

No two people were more responsible for the current way lessons are taught worldwide than Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both men had an important impact worldwide on how a person should be taught--starting in the last century and continuing today. Jean Piaget's Genetic Epistemology concentrated on the individual in learning. Lev Vygotsky's Cultural–Historical Theory concentrated on the social in learning. All over the world, teachers today use each man's ideas. Some use them at different times in their classrooms and others have learned to use them combined into the same lesson--bringing us to the crux of this book; namely, there are many lessons to learn by discovering the dynamics in the lives of both men. While both were from very different countries, there are many similarities in their lives. While most professors teaching introductory educational psychology courses focus on the difference in their lesson strategies, there are some remarkable similarities between their respective pedagogies. While differences in their families and countries were obviously significant, the two men differed surprisingly little in their pedagogical views and their basic ideas. Their similarities in views and ideas are due to the similarities in their lives. Chapter 1 looks at those similarities by looking at influences in their childhood. Chapter 2 observes their adolescence. Chapter 3 concentrates on young adulthood. Chapter 4 covers their postgraduate work. Chapter 5 traces the origins of their major ideas. For Jean Piaget, we look at the origin of chronological stages of development, the role of language, the role of the teacher, optimal mismatch, equilibration, error, and play. For Lev Vygotsky, we look at the origin of zone of proximal development, internalization, stage of development, "the social other," role of language, error, sociohistorical context of learning, scaffolding and play. Chapter 6 deals with how Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were able to overcome adversity and the lessons that can be learned by such overcoming. Chapter 7 provides a new pedagogy based on the communications that Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky had with each other, noting the influence such communications had on their mutual ideas.

Teaching Acting with Practical Aesthetics uses constructivist pedagogy to teach acting via Practical Aesthetics, a system of actor training created in the mid-1980s by David Mamet. The book melds the history of Practical Aesthetics, Practical Aesthetics itself, educational theory, and compatible physical work into the educational approach called Praxis to create a comprehensive training guide for the modern actor and theatre instructor. It includes lesson plans, compatible voice and movement exercises, constructivist teaching materials, classroom handouts, and a suggested calendar for Acting courses. Written for Acting instructors at the college and secondary levels, Acting scholars, and professionals looking for a new way to perform, Teaching Acting with Practical Aesthetics offers detailed instructions to help students sharpen their performing skills and excel on stage.

Primary and Secondary education is a formative time for young students. Lessons learned before the rigors of higher education help to inform learners’ future successes, and the increasing prevalence of learning tools and technologies can both help and hinder students in their endeavors. K-12 Education: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications investigates the latest advances in online and mobile learning, as well as pedagogies and ontologies influenced by current developments in information and communication technologies, enabling teachers, students, and administrators to make the most of their educational experience. This multivolume work presents all stakeholders in K-12 education with the tools necessary to facilitate the next generation of student-teacher interaction.

"This chapter focuses on the development of different marketing mix concepts and how they have never aligned appropriately with nonprofit arts organizations. The chapter starts with a discussion of the nonprofit arts, how they came into existence as we know them today, and how the challenges of our market economy affect them"--

With the rapid development of emerging technology tools, the digital nature of learning environments continues to change traditional forms of education. Therefore, knowledge of these changes for incorporation into classroom instruction is necessary. Pedagogical Applications and Social Effects of Mobile Technology Integration analyzes possible solutions over the concerns and issues surrounding mobile technology integration into the classroom. This book is an essential resource for professionals, researchers, and technology leaders interested in providing a direction for the future of classroom technology.

Essays on Aesthetic Education for the 21st Century, co-edited by Tracie Costantino and Boyd White, brings together an international collection of authors representing diverse viewpoints to engage in dialogue about the ongoing critical relevance of aesthetics for contemporary art education.

This book is intended to offer college faculty members the insights of the development of reasoning movement that enlighten physics educators in the late 1970s and led to a variety of college programs directed at improving the reasoning patterns used by college students. While the original materials were directed at physics concepts, they quickly expanded to include other sciences and the humanities and social sciences. On-going developments in the field will be included. The editors have introduced new topics, including discussions of Vygotsky's ideas in relation to those of Piaget, of science education research progress since 1978, of constructivist learning theory applied to educational computer games and of applications from anthropology to zoology. These materials are especially relevant for consideration by current university faculty in all subjects.

Myers offers an educational intervention that invites development of representations in response to difference. Presenting a new framework for examining controversy between worldviews and a method for creating space for difference, the book brings this into dialogue with education and research, conflict resolution and religion.