Constructivism, Educational Research, and John Dewey :: Learning Education Essays

Constructivism, Educational Research, and John Dewey ABSTRACT: Schools are expected to transmit knowledge to younger generations. They are, however, also increasingly criticized for distributing so-called inert knowledge, i.e., knowledge that is accessed only in a restricted set of contexts even though it is applicable to a wide variety of domains. The causes of limited knowledge transfer are mostly attributed to the dis-embeddedness of learning situations in schools. Instructional procedures that result in learning in the sense of being able to recall relevant information provide no guarantee that people will spontaneously use it later. "Authentic learning," acquiring knowledge in the contexts that (will) give this knowledge its meaning, is now being presented as an alternative. Underpinning these reform proposals is not only a (growing) concern with efficiency, but is also a new epistemological theory, labelled as constructivism. This paper will, first, focus on the layout of and diverging perspectives within recent constructivist re search in education. Next, the epistemological approach of John Dewey will be discussed, which takes as its starting point the relation of knowledge to action. Finally, we will indicate what a Deweyan approach might add to the constructivist research in education. 1. One indication of the rate of growth of constructivist research in education is the proliferation of its perspectives and positions. Apparently, it is already found wanting to distinguish between different themes, accents, evaluations. Instead, one speaks of contrasting ‘paradigms’. Thus, Steffe & Gale distinguish in a reader entitled Constructivism in education six different "core paradigms", viz "social constructivism, radical constructivism, social constructionism, information-processing constructivism, cybernetic systems, and sociocultural approaches to mediated action" (1995, p.xiii). All of these so-called paradigms reject traditional epistemological claims about knowledge as an objective representation of ‘reality’. Their arguments are, however, only rarely directed against inherited traditional conceptions. Rather, it are the newly formulated alternatives which serve as points of reference. Constructivist ‘paradigms’ are most of all elab orated in debate with fellow-alternatives. The most outspoken pioneer of a constructivist approach to teaching has been Ernst von Glasersfeld, whose ‘radical constructivism’ still is at the center of the debate. Elaborating on the works of Jean Piaget, von Glasersfeld has particularly focussed on individual self-regulation and the building of conceptual structures through reflection and abstraction. According to von Glasersfeld, ‘authentic’ learning depends on seeing a problem as ‘one’s own problem’, as an obstacle that obstructs one’s progress toward a goal. The farthest removed from this individualistic focus seems to be the sociocultural approach that originated with Ljev Vygotskij in Russia.