What is a key principle of social constructivist theories?

Social constructivist theories emphasize that children actively construct their own knowledge through experiences and interactions with their environment and others. This approach recognizes that learning is not merely a passive absorption of information; instead, children engage with concepts actively, experimenting, questioning, and reflecting as they build their understanding. This principle highlights the importance of social interactions, collaborative learning, and the context in which learning takes place, suggesting that knowledge is constructed through dialogue, experience, and cultural influences.

In this view, knowledge is viewed as something that is co-created among peers and guided by educators, which aligns with the principle that children learn best when they are engaged in meaningful, hands-on activities where they can explore and discover. This stands in contrast to ideas that focus on repetition, passive observation, or individual learning, which do not capture the dynamic nature of the learning process described by social constructivism.