Constructivism is a theory of how knowledge is created and how learning occurs.

Constructivist theory suggests that we cannot pour knowledge from our heads into a student's head, as if knowledge were a liquid and a student's head a vessel.

As teachers, or parents, the best we can do is to create an environment that encourages children to construct their own knowledge and understandings.

Many of the 12 constructivist teaching strategies described by Brooks and Brooks are among those you already utilize. Notice how the constructivist teaching strategies are aligned with the learning cone, which indicates how much people retain through different methods of teaching and learning.

The original cone is attributed to Edgar Dale, 1949 and it indicates that we learn best when we are involved in “Direct, purposeful experiences.” In recent decades, a cone with percentages attached to styles of learning as been published with some frequency and variously attributed to Glasser, the National Laboratories in Bethel, Maine, and others. Potsdam University Professor Anthony Betrus, in a study begun three years ago, and continuing, is casting doubt on whether research can be documented in support of the cones which have appeared subsequent to Dale’s. While Dr. Betrus has been unable to establish that the subsequent cones, with percentages, is based on original research rather than presumed from Dale’s original, he has found that none of the attributed sources is willing, or able, to produce original research, except Dale.

 Whether the percentages are accurate, or not, research is conclusive that we learn best when we are actively engaged with new information and teaching others is an effective way to generate that engagement for students.

TEACHING FOR STUDENT LEARNING

It's as simple as 1, 2, 3:
 

1	We learn best what we teach.
2	Teachers teach most effectively when they create authentic tasks in which the student teaches others what we want them to learn. We learn best through engagement in a task If the task is "authentic", students are more likely to be motivated to engage.
3	Students meet higher standards when they are independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning. Having students teach others is an excellent way to have them take responsibility for their own learning.