Teachers’ perceptions about constructivist learning in Afghan Schools. : Mathematics teachers’ perceptions and usage of question-answer, individual and group work methods considering constructivism.

Abstract: A special attention has been given to education system in Afghanistan after new government established in 2001.Initially in 2001, the ways of teaching and learning were mainly based on behaviorist approaches. This behaviorist approach to learning and teaching is gradually changed to cognitive and constructivist approaches which are mostly used in advanced education systems. These approaches to learning and teaching are mainly focused on learners themselves. Therefore, student-centered and active learning became the buzzwords in education system in Afghanistan. This study investigates constructivist learning in Afghan secondary schools. It is vast to investigate each and every aspect of constructivist learning. So, I have selected to investigate the mostly used methods (question-answer, individual and group-work) considering constructivism in Afghan secondary schools. The mentioned methods are investigated in the light of constructivism. I have investigated the methods considering four criteria of constructivist method given by Baviskar et.al, (2009). The criteria are: assessing student’s prior knowledge, differentiating what is already known and what should be learnt, changing students pre-concept in the context of new knowledge and reflection on learning. Teachers’ perceptions were found through questionnaires and their use of these methods was observed from classroom observation. Findings show that, around half of the teachers perceive the mentioned methods in line with constructivism while remaining teachers still perceive to use these methods as a traditional way of teaching. Furthermore, teachers perception based on their answers is not similar to their teaching practices considering constructivism. It means teachers’ responses in the questionnaires did not conform to their teaching practices from classroom observations. Moreover, generally teachers seem to be more constructivists in perception and applying individual work method as compared to group-work activities. In some cases, teachers who participated in pedagogical workshops answered questionnaire more in line with constructivism as compare to the teachers who did not participate in pedagogical workshops in the past.