I graduated from high school a long time ago. Almost 27 years ago, actually. If you had told me on that day, my graduation, where I am today, I would have called you crazy! I was NOT going to be a teacher, let alone a high school math teacher. But here I am. And I am exactly where I belong.

I call myself a lifelong learner. I am driven to find answers to all the questions in my head. I always liked school when I was a child. Learning came easy to me. Looking back at those experiences in the classroom through the lens of a graduate student in the ADL program, I am not sure I was learning. I was regurgitating the information my teachers “fed” me through their lectures. Learning is so much more than rote memorization of factoids. Learning is taking in experiences and constructing meaning from those experiences with prior knowledge (Kurt, 2021).  

With this new view on learning, teacher and learner roles need to be redefined.  The teacher no longer just conveys knowledge through lessons, activities, or examples.  The teacher should focus on creating significant learning environments to guide learners to learn (Harapnuik et al., 2018).  The learners also have a part to play as well.  A learner must learn.  One cannot force someone else to learn a particular concept or skill.  Learning happens within the mind and is a personal experience (Kurt, 2021).   Everyone learns, but what we retain and connect to personal experiences are unique.  

Upon investigating the Constructivist theory of learning, I found that collaboration and social experiences are pivotal in the learning journey. The new view of learning validated my self-proclaimed love of seeking knowledge. I look for opportunities to discuss and reflect on learning with anyone who will entertain me. As a facilitator of learning, my confidence has grown exponentially.  With that confidence, comes my belief that Constructivist practices,  in the classroom will lead to learner success.  I see validity in both Cognitive and Social Constructivist theories.    

While there is the importance of learning collaboratively, there are also other aspects to the Constructivist approach that must be considered.  The learner must “construct their own understanding of the world they live in.  In this way, the students play central roles in mediating and controlling learning to set their own goals, regulate their own learning process and even assessment”(Theories_Constructivism – KB, 2018).  This leads to the teacher letting go of control of that learning.  As I reflect on this aspect of my part in the learning experience, I struggle to allow myself to give up that control.  The ties that bind me are of the standardized testing kind.  Vygotsky’s theories on Scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development provide me with the strategies I need to maintain guidance over my learners with just the right amount of independence to lead some to deeper understandings (Theories_Social Constructivism – KB, 2018).

In my research for my Literature Review for my Innovation Project, I came across a study on Productive Failure in a Flipped Classroom.  Song and Kapur defined Productive Failure is a learning design that allows learners to “explore[d], discuss[ed], and solve[d] problems related to the new contents first in class even though they might come across failures…” (Song & Kapur, 2017, p. 292).  Allowing for struggle with new concepts will allow learners to strengthen their self-efficacy and have greater success in learning.  This productive failure also allows the teacher’s role to be more like a coach or mentor.  As I allow for failure amongst my students, that will likely be some of the best teaching I will do.    

My philosophy of learning is not static; it is very much dynamic.  As a learner, I plan to evolve as an educator.  I see power and freedom in knowledge.  I want to inspire my learners to find that power and privilege in their learning journey.  This realization will be enhanced with a shift in their mindset as a mathematician.  So many of my learners come to me with a fixed mindset.  Boaler reassures us that we can all learn math (2022).  That elusive person everyone claims is a “math” person does not exist (Boaler, 2022).  While I am bound to teach to a standardized state test, I will strive daily to facilitate meaningful learning opportunities for my learners.  My learners will find joy in their education by implementing constructivist ideals, just as I find joy in their successes and failures.  

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