The Reflexible Person

Referring to the European and especially the German education system, this article first identifies that both forms of governance in educational systems as well as pedagogical professionalization have fallen behind. We present new proposals for a substantive and evidence-based reinterpretation and reshaping of what education is and can be and how educational systems can be changed. In order to address these shortcomings, we follow suggestions of a systemic-constructivist pedagogy, and highlight concrete strategies and starting points of an awareness-based system change in the field of educational system development are pointed out. This attempt to not only rethink education, but also to shape it, is based on a critical analysis of the often stagnant internal educational reforms, and the concepts and routines that characterize these stagnant reforms. We hypothesize that, in order to break free from this stagnation, a continuous self-transforming subjectivity of the responsible actors is necessary. This explanatory framework is extended in this article to the figure of the ”reflexible person” (Arnold, 2019a), whose main characteristic is reflexibility, in the sense of being reflexive as well as flexible. The reflexible person possesses practiced and strengthened competencies for observation and reflection including of the self, as well as reinterpretation and transformation. These competences are substantiated and specified as prerequisites and effective conditions for an awareness-based system change in educational systems. In addition, possible ways of promoting and developing them are pointed out.

Pedagogické přístupy a didaktické postupy zaměřené na volnočasovou kompetenci

The article offers an overview of the pedagogical approaches and didactic procedures used for leisure education in school facilities (after-school club, school clubs, children's and youth homes) and evaluates them in terms of the development of leisure education, whose general goal is leisure literacy. In the introductory part, the authors explain the basic concepts. The first (most extensive) chapter is focused on education (extra-curricular education, education outside teaching). Information on various methods, mostly traditional, is followed by a section devoted to methods based on constructivist pedagogy. The first chapter concludes with a section devoted to the methods used in so-called open youth work (Offene Jugendarbeit, Open Youth Work). The second chapter is devoted to the concept of leisure competence, and the third chapter contains an evaluation of educational methods in terms of their suitability for education focused on leisure literacy.

Rethinking the Course Content and Pedagogies used in Learning about 'Asian Religions'

This essay examines the concerns expressed by students when studying a second-year module on Asian religions and how they thought the facilitation of their learning could be most effective. Following research done with three cohorts of second-year students studying Asian religions from 2015 to 2017, this essay argues that both changes in pedagogy and course content are needed to create spaces where learning about these religions can address the concerns raised by students. Students were particularly concerned about how studying Asian religions would prepare them for the world of work and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The research for this essay is located in a social constructivist pedagogy that forefronts social justice and is grounded in an engaged learning practice. The essay examines why in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, studying Asian religions is important and valuable to students studying for a degree in preparation for entry into the workplace. The essay shows that engagement with different technologies in teaching and learning enables a pedagogy of co-knowledge production and co-sharing of knowledge where students learn technological skills, critical thinking skills, and a deepening awareness of their worldviews and those of other people. In so doing, this module addressed student concerns about their studies and the skills they considered valuable in preparing them for future careers.

Project Zero: A Framework for Innovative Pedagogy in the Teaching of English in Malaysia?

This paper marks the beginning of a project aimed at trialing a Western learning model in a Malaysian context where it is yet to be tested by previous research. This paper is the first of a series of research papers written to show the process in which a framework used in a bigger study was designed. It gives a sound theoretical background to support the building of Project Zero (PZ) framework and provides a comprehensive argument to realise the needs identified by the government of Malaysia, by explaining why Visible Thinking (VT) might be a useful tool for developing a more constructivist pedagogy. Most of PZ research was conducted in school classrooms in a Western setting. This study prides itself in taking PZ research to a whole new level, that is to a higher learning institution in a Malaysian classroom setting where undergraduate students were studied, this marks the novelty of this research. The PZ framework for observation and analysis was developed by carefully studying the Visible Thinking Project to determine the thinking routines used, this in turn formed the core of the framework. Data from interviews with 3 groups of 59 undergraduate students and their 3 teachers were then analysed qualitatively. It was found that this Western learning model has positive implications for students’ learning.

Constructivism in the training of students of pedagogical specialties

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the effectiveness of models of training students in pedagogical specialties based on the theory of constructivism. The research methodology is based on a survey of students on the acquisition of knowledge in the learning process on the example of universities in Ukraine and Poland. The results of the study demonstrate the formation of students' knowledge in the process of organizing learning based on the methods of pedagogical constructivism. Students of the experimental group demonstrate a higher level of activity if the teacher uses communication and trust-oriented teaching methods. The scientific value of this research lies in the possibility of using the results of student surveys by teachers of pedagogical universities to understand which elements of constructivist pedagogy should be used to increase the efficiency of the educational process.

E-Constructivism

The constructivist teaching is based on the idea that students actively ‘construct' knowledge – they do not just ‘accumulate' new information, but rather ‘adjust' it to the foundation of the individual experiences, beliefs and assumptions. This chapter examines the constructivist theory in the context of e-learning. Constructivism-based lesson includes multiple modes of activity, such as contextual games or intense social interaction in groups. The nature of embedded learning or ‘learning-while-doing' is best captured in a collaborative study environment, whereby the students negotiate to achieve a corporate goal. There is a bewildering array of ways, in which the constructivist approach might be applied in a modern study environment. First, the chapter describes constructivism as a theoretical concept – and then morphs it into real-live examples from the pedagogical practice. Finally, it comments on the project initiated in Riga Technical University – a new online platform for anonymous peer review sessions created by the author to entwine constructivist pedagogy with digital technologies.

The relationship between physical disability and the didactic principles of constructivist pedagogy in ancient greek education, mainly in physical education

The aim of our study is to present the most important elements of ancient Greek (Spartan, Athenian) education, in which physical education and martial arts were given a prominent role, based on the aspect of Hegedűs’ (2020) work. However, for this reason, it is worth mentioning those individuals and their education who were borne with some limitation or physical disability. Furthermore, by introducing the educational activities carried out in the examined period, we tried to present the constructivist didactic principles that can be related to the education characteristic of the ancient age.

Constructivist pedagogy in context of modern philosophy of education

Introduction. The relevance of the research is underpinned by the lack of conceptual and methodological framework for the upgrade of educational practices against the background of common transition to new educational technologies associated with e-learning and distance learning technologies. The purpose of this article is to identify the key features of constructivist pedagogy to build the educational design understood as a set of teaching practices to create a series of educational events that allow a teacher to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in the most effective way. Materials and methods. We used methods of critical analysis of modern constructivist epistemology approaches; we applied methods of ideal type differentiation and content analysis; we used principles of definition of concepts reflecting the substance of constructivist pedagogical paradigm. Results. The analysis of modern forms of the constructivist pedagogical paradigm revealed its capabilities for overcoming crisis points in modern processes of common transition to e-learning formats and distance learning technologies. Increasing information competence of teachers will make it possible to leverage constructivist methods and stimulate the students' abilities to create their own sense of learning. Among the innovative educational technologies of constructivist pedagogy, there is a great potential for education related to the performance of creative artistic tasks in non-artistic professional education. Conclusion. The constructivist pedagogical paradigm is a new philosophy of education that is likely to systematically restructure the educational process at the undergraduate level and form an active position of student as the main subject of educational process.