What is the Constructivist Classroom?

Brooks and Brooks (1993), authors of In Search of Understanding: the case for constructivist classrooms,  list twelve descriptors of constructivist teaching behaviors.

1. Constructivist teachers encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative (students frame their own questions and find answers)
2. Constructivist teachers use raw data and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive and physical materials (students look for evidence rather than receiving knowledge passively and link concepts to real life situations)
3. When framing tasks, constructivist teachers use terminology such as 'classify,' 'analyze,''predict,' and 'create'
4. Constructivist teachers allow student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies and alter content
5. Constructivist teachers inquire about students' understandings of concepts before sharing their own understanding of these concepts (take account of current understandings and interests)
6. Constructivist teachers encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with one another (students are encouraged to present their own ideas as well as being permitted to hear and reflect on the ideas of others; paired two-minute discussions before general feedback leads to more powerful construction of new understandings or reflection of old ones.)
7. Constructivist teachers encourages student enquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging students to ask questions of each other
8. Constructivist teachers seek elaboration of students' initial responses
9. Constructivist teachers engage students in experiences that might engender contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encourage discussion -- teachers ask questions which set up contradictions to encourage discussion
10. Constructivist teachers allow 'wait time' after posing questions.
11.  Constructivist teachers provide time for students to construct relationship and create metaphors
12. Constructivist teachers nurture students' natural curiosity through frequent use of the learning cycle model - (i) students interact with selected materials and generate questions and hypotheses, (ii) teacher focuses students questions as a way of introducing the concept, (iii) students work on new problems as a way of applying the concept.