Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 33

Constructivism, Cross-cultural Teaching, and Orality 31 Constructivism, Cross-cultural Teaching, and Orality by Phil Thornton Phil Thornton served as a missionary in Colombia, S.A. before assuming the job of Professor of Missions at Asbury University, a position he held for 27 years. Phil has extensive experience in cross-cultural communication and church leadership training in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He holds the PhD. degree in cultural anthropology. [email protected] B ecause new information is filtered through the pre-existing mental grid of the listener, real learning takes place most effectively when the potential learners (listeners) are actively engaged in the learning process rather than receiving new information passively. This constructivist approach to teaching/learning argues that people “construct” their understanding and knowledge of the world through real-life experiences, and by reflecting on those experiences. When the potential learners encounter something new, they must reconcile it with their previous ideas and experiences. The result may be that they accept the new information and change what they believe and how they behave, or they may simply discard the new information as undesirable or irrelevant. In either case, with constructivist teaching/learning, the learners themselves will be active participants in the teaching/ ... people “construct” their understanding and knowledge of the world through real-life experiences, and by reflecting on those experiences. learning process. This is true simply because new information and discoveries have challenged them to question, explore, and assess what they know (or think they know). This strong emphasis on the learner as an active participant in the learning process does not in any way devalue the role of the teacher, but it does modify that role, especially compared to a more traditional teaching style. In constructivist teaching/ learning, the teacher assumes the role of a facilitator more than that of a dispenser of information. In the world of crosscultural communication, this understanding of the facilitative role of the teacher is crucial, especially when it concerns