Introduction

Background of the Study

In any educational background, different students and teachers usually have their own

understanding of a particular idea based on what they believe in, or what they understand based

on the topic. According to (Daniels, 2005), how different people learn and understand a subject,

is based on their surroundings, the communication with others, the culture, as well as the

interactions that occur.

A major thing that a teacher should understand is that different students have a different

understanding and that these students cannot be at the same level of knowledge. In most cases,

what a particular student understands is way too different from what a lecturer thinks about or

considers. If these conflicting perspectives are to be considered, the validity and dependability

of the information shared between the students and the teachers leaves a lot to be desired about.

In normal circumstances, a teacher cannot reach out to each and every student as

required and therefore it is of the essence to implement a perfect study design that allows

different students to get involved in the learning process. The Constructivists Learning Theory

states that learning is a process that creates different meanings from various experiences

(Rushby, & Surry, 2016). In simple terms, various students will get the opportunity to learn

more efficiently if a teacher will be present to guide them. The Constructivists Learning Theory

encourages critical thinking and communication as a way of promoting understanding. Apart

from this, this theory has been found to bring about the sense of responsibility in learners (Ruey,

2009).

The Schema Theory is another theory that can be used to explain the different

understanding that exists between the students and the lecturers. This theory brings to light the
TRANSACTIONAL SOCIAL DECONSTRUCTION FOR MEANING 2

impact that reading has on the understanding of a particular text by a student and describes how

the background affects the understanding ability of the student (McCormack, & Pasquarelli,

2010). For instance, if a lecturer is from a background where sharing information is not an

important factor, the chances of the lecturer passing on the problem to the students is high.

The Social Cognitive Theory of Learning states that the level of knowledge and

understanding that a particular person has is directly correlated to how they observe other

people in their surroundings as well as their cognitive understanding of whats around them

(Phillipson, & Lam, 2012). The external and internal factors that surround a learner play a

crucial role in influencing the learning and understanding capability of a student.

So as to identify the problem and devise ways of solving it, a total of 50 senior high

school students will be utilitzed in this study.

Statement of the Problem

From the study conducted on the study group, various problems were identified. These

problems were as follows;

The study established that a majority of the students who were interviewed largely

depended on the ideas of the lecturers rather than digging deep to understand the main idea of

the topic by themselves. This problem was common especially in subjects that seemed hard to

figure out for some students. In these cases, the students preferred to go with the teachers

argument even if it meant that the argument was incorrect.

Poor coordination between the students and the lecturers was also another problem that

was discovered in this study. As a matter of fact, a majority of the students studied preferred to

conduct their own studies by themselves rather than involve the lecturers. The result of this is

the fact that a conflict of interest and understanding occurred.

TRANSACTIONAL SOCIAL DECONSTRUCTION FOR MEANING 3

Lack of critical thinking was also a major problem that was discovered among the

students. According to the Constructivists Learning Theory, critical thinking must be employed

by each and every student who ought to learn new things (Uden, Wang, Corchado Rodriguez,

Yang, & Ting, 2014).

Another significant problem that needs to be addressed is the fact that different teachers

come from diverse backgrounds and share different cultures where a particular meaning of a

certain issue or topic is interpreted differently (Cruz, Ellerbrock, Vasquez, & Howes, 2014).

References

Cruz, B., Ellerbrock, C., Vasquez, A., & Howes, E. (2014). Talking diversity with teachers and
teacher educators (1st ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

Daniels, H. (2005). An introduction to Vygotsky (1st ed., p. 101). London: Routledge.

TRANSACTIONAL SOCIAL DECONSTRUCTION FOR MEANING 4

McCormack, R., & Pasquarelli, S. (2010). Teaching Reading: Strategies and Resources for
Grades K-6 (1st ed., p. 94). New York: Guilford.

Phillipson, S., & Lam, B. (2012). Learning and teaching in the Chinese classroom (1st ed., p.
86). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Ruey, S. (2009). A case study of constructivist instructional strategies for adult online learning.
British Journal Of Educational Technology, 41(5), 706-720.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00965.x

Rushby, N., & Surry, D. (2016). The Wiley handbook of learning technology (1st ed., p. 67).
West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.

Uden, L., Wang, L., Corchado Rodriguez, J., Yang, H., & Ting, I. (2014). The 8th International
Conference on Knowledge Management in Organizations (1st ed., p. 112). Dordrecht:
Springer Netherlands.