Memorandum #2
February 13, 2008
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism
D.C. Phillips
In this piece, Phillips argues that there are too many schools of thought that all exist under the umbrella term of constructivist. He stresses that there are three main axes along which different scholars, theorists, and authors agree or disagree. The first axis has at one extreme a focus on the cognitive development of the individual learner. The other end focuses entirely on the development of "public" subject matter domains. While some scholars are clearly at one pole or the other, some occupy a point somewhere between these two extremes.
The second axis along which some constructivist thinkers are scattered is the most significant to Phillips because to be at one end, "nature the instructor", would deem one a minimal constructivist, if a constructivist at all. In this view, nature is "imposing" knowledge on the learner. The other end of this axis is more closely associated with radical constructivists. At this end, "humans the creators", knowledge is only what one comes to know through experience.
On the third axis, one end addresses the activity of the individual while the other focuses on social/political factors and the effect that such factors may have on activity and thus knowledge production.
Phillips contends that it is difficult to develop a coherent understanding of constructivism because scholars may be at the same pole on one axis but at opposite poles on the next. What is promising, regardless the axis or the pole, is the idea that constructivism calls for an honoring of the individual as the primary participant in his or her learning.
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