Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 41

Constructivism, Cross-cultural Teaching, and Orality

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Kraft, Charles. 2000. Communicating Jesus’ Way. Pasadena, Calif.: William
Carey Library.
Websites on Constructivism:
www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
saskschoolboards.ca/research/instruction/97-07.htm
www.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/inst335/docs/inst335_brooks.pdf
www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa3const.htm
www.slideshare.net/nataliea/constructivist-teaching-methods

Charles Kraft refers to this as the identificational approach (the teacher understands
the meaning and nuances the learners assign to the terms/actions) as opposed
to the extractionist approach (which demands that the hearers understand the
teacher’s meanings/actions for communication to take place).
ii
Western literate education approaches teaching in terms of concepts, ideas,
issues, and problems. Illustrations from real life are given to prove a point. With
oral learners, logic is neither understood nor prized as an argumentative tool,
and principles are seldom extracted from the story. The story is the message.
iii
By “packaging,” I mean how the message is structured; by “delivery,” I refer
to the multiple ways communication takes place such as drama, song, dance,
proverbs and sayings, myth, legend, etc.
iv
Numerous resources are available online which further detail the differences
between constructivist and traditional teaching/learning models.
i