Teaching Framework (ESL/EFL)

1. Philippine Normal University
National Center for Teacher Education
Faculty of Arts and Languages
Taft Avenue, Manila
A Teaching Framework Based on the Constructivist Theory
Submitted by:
Angelie T. Magdasoc
II – 17 BSE English
Submitted to:
Prof. Maria Sarah Palma

2. I. Introduction
In my 12 years of studying, I have already experienced different strategies or
approaches implemented by my teachers. Well, I could say that some of those were
effective, and some were not. As a future educator, I was challenged to decide of what
approach I will use in teaching that will nurture my students’ minds to absorb and
understand what needs to be learned. I must choose the one which I think would really
ensure my student’s learning. At this point, I consider constructivism as the basis of my
teaching frame work, because I believe that it will provide my students a distinctive
educational experience through processing schemas and formulating new ideas by
themselves.
II. Background on Constructivism
Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -
- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and
knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those
experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our
previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding
the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own
knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know.
In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number
of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging
students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create
more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their

3. understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students'
preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on
them.
III. Teaching Framework
A. Preparation
1) Setting concrete goals to achieve at the end of every discussion
It is already given that in order for every task to be successful, there are
certain goals which should be met. Teaching doesn’t just occur for nothing. We teach
because we want the students to learn. My goals are to make sure that my students will
be engaged in various activities that would make them construct their own ideas.
2) Preparing suitable instructional materials
Since I want them to be engaged in various activities, I should be able to
provide appropriate instructional materials. These materials should be something
manipulative, appealing, and are accessible to various levels of ability of the learners.
3) Preparing student assessments
Aside from typical written and oral examinations, student assessments
may also be concrete, meaning something that can be experienced by learners. I think
activities such as hands-on experiments, portfolio making, journal writing, problem
solving, and even those tasks involve in multiple intelligences will be very effective.

4. 4) Mastering knowledge about the lesson
Letting my students construct their own ideas doesn’t mean that I will not
master my lessons anymore because the children will still need my help. Though I will
not give them the exact answers, I should still be there to support them so that they will
not come out to wrong ideas.
B. Learning Environment
1) Exposing students to a classroom environment that is full of respect
A classroom full of respect will definitely produce not just students of
knowledge but also students of values. It may create a harmonious relationship
between me and my students, and most probably between my students and their
classmates.
2) Establishing House Rules
I believe that creating something which students are obliged to follow will
develop their sense of responsibility, as well as their discipline. But of course, those
rules should be reasonable. I could also consider punishments but these should be
appropriate and should not be beyond the limit.
3) Maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness
An ideal classroom should always be kept dirt free and organized because
this affects the learning of the students. Unhealthy surroundings may disturb the
children making them uncomfortable while studying, so its better if I will prevent this to
happen.

5. 4) Establishing a classroom routine
A routine is simply a set of procedures for handling both daily occurrences (e.g.,
taking attendance, starting a class period, or turning in assignments), and minor
interruptions of instruction, such as a student’s broken pencil or the arrival of a note
from the main office (Kosier, 1998; Savage, 1999). The essence of establishing routines
is to practice students to complete tasks without the teacher’s assistance. In this case,
two objectives will be accomplished according to Colvin & Lazar (1995):
(a) Students have more opportunity to learn.
(b) Teachers can devote more time to instruction.
C. Professional Responsibilities
1) Reflecting on my teaching style
I think this is one of the important things that I should do – to reflect on my
own way of teaching. I should do this from time to time so that I will be aware weather
my strategy is still effective and if it still suits my students’ learning ability because if not,
I should immediately seek for another strategy to perform.
2) Keeping accurate records
Records are so essential to monitor students’ performance so this should
be kept accurate and consistent. This will also help me identify the students who need
more attention.

6. 3) Ensuring communication with students’ parents or guardians
As a teacher, I should keep in touch with my students’ parents and
guardians because I know that they also want to monitor their children’s school
performance. Moreover, communicating with them will help me understand my students’
different personalities.
4) Being professional always
Being professional means conforming to the customs or rules of my
chosen profession. One of these rules is making myself always available every time my
students’ will need me for consultation. Teaching profession does not end inside the
classroom because there are some instances when my students will need me even
we’re outside the academic context.
D. Manner of Instruction
1) Preparing suitable activities
Since I am building a constructivist classroom, my goal is to let my
students learn by doing. I should implement activities which will exhibit discovery,
hands-on, experiential, collaborative, project-based, and task-based learning. In this
case, I think I could use activities such as Brainstorming (e.i. the students wi ll share
their schemas and insights with each other), Reciprocal Questioning (e.i. students work
together to ask and answer questions), Jigsaw (e.i. students become "experts" on one
part of a group project and teach it to the others in their group), Structured

7. Controversies (e.i. students work together to research a particular controversy)
(Woolfolk 2010).
2) Using questioning and discussion method
After involving my students to different activities, I will now proceed to
questioning and discussion method. First, I will ask them to share what they learn from
those activities, and then I will form good questions. In that case, every answer from
those questions will be discussed further.
3) Peer scaffolding and teacher-directed scaffolding
As a teacher I should create opportunities for peer scaffolding and
teacher-directed scaffolding. Scaffolding is a concept closely related to the idea of Zone
of Proximal Development. It is changing the level of support to suit the cognitive
potential of the child. In this case, peer and teacher-directed scaffolding is the process
of allowing interaction that encourage knowledge building, and therefore connects the
differences of knowledge levels within a classroom.
IV. Summary
The world is getting more advanced as time goes by. We, as future teachers are
challenged to also have advanced strategies in teaching to compete and adapt with the
present norms. But of course, that will be made possible by considering the different
theories developed by early scholars. As for me, I prefer the constructivist theory (or
constructionism). By using this as the basis of my teaching framework, I am building a
classroom which has students who create and discover ideas from their experiences.

8. I divided my teaching framework into 4 phases. First is reparation. This includes
setting concrete goals, preparing suitable instructional materials, as well as
assessments, and mastering my lessons. Second is building an ideal learning
environment which means creating a classroom full of respect, establishing house rules,
maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness and establishing a classroom routine. The
third one is professional responsibilities. It involves reflecting on my own teaching style,
keeping accurate records of my students, ensuring communication with my students’
parents or guardians and being always professional. And lastly I included three
manners of instruction and those are preparing suitable activities that would imply
discovery, hands-on, experiential, collaborative, project-based, and task-based learning;
Questioning and Discussion Method; and lastly, the peer and teacher-directed
scaffolding. I hope I could really implement these in the future for the sake of my
students’ learning.

9. REFERENCES
Cey, T. (2001). Moving towards constructivist classrooms. Retrieved October 14, 2013
from http://ed.fnal.gov/lincoln/el_constructivism.html
Ciesemier K., Gatz S., Meehan S., Marszalek C., & Pentek P. (2006). Assessing your
student’s learning (your project). Retrieved October 14, 2013 from
http://ed.fnal.gov/lincon/el_assessment.shtml
Constructivism (philosophy of education). (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2013 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_%28philosophy_of_education%29
Constructivism. (2004). Retrieved October 14, 2013 from
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/exploration.html