Constructivism
and the Intermediate to Advanced Snow Sport Student

By Linda Cowan
PSIA/AASI-NW Technical Team Member

“Inspiring a lifelong passion for the mountain experience.” What does our PSIANW vision statement have to do with Constructivism? What is Constructivism? Constructivism is an educational theory about how people learn. In this article we will define Constructivism, share why and when it is important to implement along with how using it can help to foster a lifelong passion for the mountain experience.

Constructivism teaches that students learn more when they are actively involved, rather than passive listeners. Constructivism also states that students need to make connections with what they already know in order to foster new learning. A Constructivist approach stimulates and engages students because the learning is based upon questions, explorations and experiences. When students are given the opportunity to analyze, interpret and predict information for themselves, the result is their ownership and responsibility of information, which should be our goal as snow sport instructors.

Before we go further, let’s briefly compare Constructivism to traditional teaching methods. With traditional teaching, the teacher’s role is directive and based in authority. Students work alone and learning is primarily dependent on repetition. This method is foundational and is most important when applied with students learning new information and/ or when students have little or no prior knowledge e.g. beginner students. For example, when working with Day One students, they are depending upon us to supply them with the right information in order for them to be successful.

However, when we move beyond the beginner level and focus on intermediate to advanced students, their needs change. Given their experience, they are able to begin to reason and make predictions. By challenging higher-level students with a Constructivist approach, we help foster the ownership and responsibility of information.

So, how do we apply Constructivism to our snow sport environment? As a Constructivist instructor, our role becomes less directive and more supportive by providing opportunities, scenarios, situations and questions for our students to explore in order to come to their own understanding of information. For example, allowing students to choose what they want to work on is Constructivist in its approach. Let’s say your class decides they want to improve their riding in deeper snow. At the top of a run, a simple question or two can get their minds thinking.

“So, how should we be moving through this deeper snow?” Or, “How might we move differently through this deep snow compared to when we ride on groomed terrain?”

By providing students with the opportunity to think about what they are doing and why, they begin to foster their own understanding. It is important for us to respect the ideas of students and encourage independent thinking, as this helps students attain their own intellectual identity. A helpful key to Constructivism is patience and encouragement, because the goal is for students, not the instructor, to come up with the answers. So, at this point, taking the run without expecting any ideas/ answers is appropriate. At the bottom of the same run, the above questions can be posed again. This can be done quickly with a ‘once around’ the group.

If students struggle to articulate their sensations or put their ideas to words, this is where you have a variety of options. You can choose to take them to a groomed run for a comparison, you could go back and take another off-piste run or you might want to use a drill that would help them in deep snow, with the goal of providing them a more focused opportunity to feel what they are doing. After some practice and feedback, you can then come back to your initial question to see if students are able to formulate and articulate what they are feeling, when and why.

Framing questions with the challenges found experientially on the hill gives students the opportunity to analyze and formulate their own answers, and listening to the experiences/ideas of their peers also helps students with their own understanding, ultimately helping them to become problem solvers. Our role becomes supportive rather than directive, but, that being said, we will at times, need to provide more information, questions or revisit a situation or scenario to help students with their understanding. Ultimately, we are responsible for all information shared, so the information communicated by students must be appropriate, accurate and consistent with current technical industry standards. But, the more we can guide our students towards the correct, accurate and appropriate information, the more we are helping them to foster ownership of this information.

For many of you, this brief overview of Constructivism may simply be a confirmation of the best practices that you already do, and if so, keep up the great work! For others, hopefully our overview of Constructivism, its purpose and intent and how it differs from traditional ‘direct-instruction’ provides you with few new ideas, and enthusiasm when you find yourself in front of an eager and ready group of intermediate to advanced riders this winter!