Activity 3.4: Bart the Genius: Constructivism Applied?

Activity 3.4 - Bart the Genius: Constructivism Applied?

Bart cheats on his IQ test, labeled, “genius” (IQ 216), and transfers to a school full of nerds, that looks like a constructivist Montessori school. Marie Montessori promoted constructivism before it was popular. This dialectical constructivism approach, discussed by O’Donnell, emphasizes five important characteristics: (a) social participation, (b) scaffolding, (c) authentic tasks with embedded learning, (d) learning tools, and (e) the dialectic between the individual and environment.

  

The “learning coordinator” (teacher) in the new school tells Bart that the only rule is, that, students make their own rules. Students nap when they want, read books they want, except comic books, lead their own child-centered learning. Kids wear ties, are requested to “discover your desk”, and debate, whether free will is an illusion.  O’Donnell and Montessori would love this school, in theory. Bart misses his friends at his traditional school, where he often got into trouble, revealing his crime, and returns.