There has been a classroom discussion on the similarities of playing in a sandbox and constructivism. This brought me to thinking about a my magical experiences at Camp Onas when I was a kid. One of the reasons that I know how wonderful it was is because of my contrasting experience at Girl Scout Camp. The 2 camps have completely different philosophies. Camp Onas is Quaker. The campers make their own choices as to what daily activities to participate. They are able to choose from archery, swimming, arts and crafts, acting, canoeing and so on. They are, in fact, in charge of creating their own learning experiences, hence the word “Onas”. I’d even say that Camp Onas uses a constructivist approach. It was truly wonderful for me. I probably experienced more self discovery during those summers than I did during the entire school year. I would always cry when my parents came to take me home. I could have stayed there for my entire childhood. On the other hand, Girl Scout Camp used a Behaviorist model. Campers are given a specific predefined schedule to follow, with no regard to the child’s interests. I only went to Girl Scout Camp for 2 weeks. The experience made me feel like a caged bird. I was trapped in someone else’s preferred learning environment.
