Constructivist schools focus on developing critical thinking, which helps students develop their own opinions about information they consume, and allows them to differentiate quality information from poor information. The constructivist school also seeks to create students who will continue to learn outside the classroom. Students will continue to need to learn about and adapt to the world they live in without the teacher's assistance.
Constructivism holds that students must take information and actively construct it into knowledge. People learn by building on what they already know, with new information causing people to adapt and change old information. To facilitate this process, teachers must give students experiences that allow them to engage in meaning making. For example, a teacher might show students how to formulate a hypothesis, then give information on which students can use to formulate theories. Constructivists believe that an objective reality doesn't exist and that people construct their own realities.
Since students build new knowledge on old knowledge, educators must try to connect what students already know to the information communicated in the classroom. This increases the chances that students will be able to understand the content. Teachers can connect new knowledge to information disseminated earlier. However, teachers can also build on knowledge that students bring into the classroom. For example, a literature teacher can try to connect course content to pop culture.
Constructivist classrooms place less emphasis on punishment, which assumes that students are responsible for their own actions, and instead focus on the factors that might lead to a student breaking the rules. Rewards are also discouraged, since they create an environment of competition that discourages community. In addition, punishment can lead to students retaliating in response to adults deliberately making them suffer.
While constructivist classrooms have certain goals, these classrooms don't have rigid formulas they follow since formulas would lead to narrow-minded thinking that discourages teacher creativity. These classrooms must instead be flexible and ready to respond to individualized student needs. Constructivist classrooms are democratic, with the teacher allowing all the students to decide what the classroom does.
Constructivists hold that children misbehave because they have needs that they want met. To get children to behave, teachers must identify their needs, then help the students meet these needs. For example, when students act out because they do not get enough attention at home, teachers can give them opportunities to seek attention in positive ways, such as putting on a play.