4.6. George Hein

4.6. George Hein

George Hein isan education theorist, education researcher, chemist, museum educator, and Professor Emeritus at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Alongside an academic and research career, his work in education began as part of the Educational Development Center in the Elementary Science Program, growing from there to programme evaluation and valuation of cultural institutions. In 1972, he founded the Program Evaluation and Research Group (PERG) to evaluate the educational work of museums and arts organizations and has been active in museum education and evaluation ever since. He has systematically elaborated and described the model of a constructivist museum and related ‘learning in museums’ to educational theory. PERG also served as the evaluator for major American national programmes and began major evaluation work for NASA education programs, among other assignments. Hein has had experience as a curriculum developer, science educator, and director of national programmes to facilitate systemic school change.

George Hein theorises a constructivist education thatconsists of a certain combination of Knowledge theory and Learning theory to be put into practice through pedagogy, called Education Theory. Hein classifies educational theories based on three components: a theory of knowledge(epistemology), a theory of learning, and, deriving from the first two, a theory of teaching(pedagogy). He places theories of knowledge on a continuumranging from the realist position, that the real world and knowledge of it exist independent of the mind, to the idealist position, that knowledge exists only as constructed by the individual mind (Hein, 1998). Theories of how people learn also are spread along a continuum. At one end is the position that learning occurs by adding information bit by bit to an essentially passive mind. At the other extreme learning is seen as an active mental process resulting in a restructuring of the mind(Hein,2006). These two parameters are essentially the ‘what and how of learning’. By drawing a diagram with these two continuums at right angles, Hein forms four quadrants, each representing a pair of positions with respect to learning and knowledge that characterises a particular educational theory. He labels the theories as didactic, expository; stimulus–response; 1 Hein's model for educational theories Source: discovery;and constructivism, and for each he

Redrawn from Hein (1998). | Download also describes what the most appropriate

Scientific Diagram (researchgate.net) pedagogy would be. By this analysis, constructivism is defined as the educational

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theory that embraces knowledge as a construction of the mind and learning as an active restructuring of the mind. (See diagram.)

Didactic, Expository

⮚ Knowledge is presented as the truth. ⮚ Content is divided into small parts and presented in a fixed and logical order (from simple to complex). ⮚ The learner has a passive role: he absorbs the knowledge.

Stimulus–Response

⮚ The focus is mainly on training, less on content. ⮚ It is not so much about the transfer of knowledge but a particular behaviourthat one wants to create or strengthen. ⮚ The intention is that the learner will develop a specific response to a given stimulus, without claiming that there is a legitimate ground for it. (Seealso behaviourism.)

Discovery (or Discovery by learning)

⮚ The learning person is actively involved in the learning process. ⮚ It is learning by doing things yourself, by experiences, by dealing with objects, phenomena and people,and reflecting onit. ⮚ The different ways of learning and the importance of experiences in the learning process are recognised. However, the fixed learning content is not abandoned.

Constructivism

⮚ The active participation of the learning person is necessary, and it is not the intention to reach correct conclusions. ⮚ There is no external norm or truth on the subject against which the conventional interpretations must be assessed. ⮚ Content must be meaningful within the experience of the person itselfanduseful to base actions on. ⮚ Within constructivism, an argument is only wrong if it does not correspond to the existing evidence–e.g. you cannot say that a circle is square. Otherwise, there are not so many misconceptions as there are naive or personal interpretations.

Constructivism theory is based on the idea that students should engage in learning that is relevant to their own lives because it carries deeper meaning and understanding. Students in constructivist-based classrooms become active participants in the learning processes as they construct their own understanding of concepts, rather than having their learning transmitted to them by some other source. A key aspect of constructivist theory is the idea of scaffolding: the support provided to students by a teacher or another student to help extend a student's learning(Hein, 2004).

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There is a model linked closely to constructivism, and which is especially relevant to learning through physical activities (but can be applied to art too). This is called inquiry-based learning. The foundation of inquiry-based learning is that students learn deeply and authentically when being presented with a problem or question in which they work to find the answer (Purichia, 2015). Inquiry-based learning can be used as a basis for the creation of effective learning experiences by posing a skill-based problem for young people to solve (i.e.playing a game, trying to solve a problem together). By providing young people with open-ended, complex, and thoughtful scenarios, they are engaged and are inspired to learn deeply. This helps the group use skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and reflection (i.e.the skills describedearlier as 21st-centuryskills).

As constructivist theory suggests that learning is especially a social construct, it is recommended that the teacher (whether you call thema teacher, facilitatoror coach is not important) gives their students opportunities to take control of the learning process and to interact with each other while doing so. Thus, when planning an activity for a group of young people it is vital to acknowledge theirspecific needs and plan accordingly. Teachers need to think about what young people can potentially become. This requires that the teacher takes intoaccount the past experiences of the group, which is especially important when working with groups of individuals in vulnerable positions. This can then be used as a basis for what they are going to do during the planned activity.

The idea of scaffolding should be implemented so that young people have a chance for reflection and learn to support and rely on each other. This also means that the leader must always be ready to change theirplans and react to the needs of the group. Cooperation is not something that can be learnt simply by working in groups in a single session. It is instead by engaging in a series of cooperative events that students learn to be cooperative.

What we should remember:

⮚ If you assume (to the extentpossible) that people (young and older) actively learn, and that they have control over their learning process, then a careful balance must be sought between openness and direction. ⮚ It is not the intention to achieve a precise result (or to make a standard) but that everyone learns in the broad sense of the word and develops their knowledge, attitude and skills. ⮚ The essential is that people are motivated and stimulated to enter (and stay) in that learning process and to create a safe and challenging learning environment. ⮚ Starting points, offering a complete learning process, adapting the activity to the needs of learners, and confirming personal results are keywords and require extensive and substantial preparation.

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