Thought Paper #3: On Constructivism

Brett Williams

Student #: 87701124

ETEC 512

Sunday, July 14, 2013

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In his article on constructivist theory, von Glasersfeld (2008) ruminates on the

individuals perception of reality and construction of knowledge through experience,

culminating in the paradox that " to assess the truth of your knowledge you would have

to know what you come to know before you come to know it." Of course, there is no way

for us to know the truth of what something is, without knowing what it is to do so, we

require assistance to contextualize what it is needed to be learned. We need guidance

from someone who does an elder sibling, a parent, a teacher who can provide us with

the necessary context and language in which to comprehend the meaning of that

knowledge.

My understanding of von Glasersfelds paradox connects directly to the

fundamentals of constructivist theory, which posits that the student should be at the

center of his or her learning. He states "that knowledge is not a transferable commodity

and communication not a conveyance, thereby arguing that students are more than mere

receptacles for knowledge waiting to be filled with information that the teacher deems

important. Rather they should be seen as active participants engaged in the development

of their understanding. As von Glasersfeld cautions, however, this does not altogether

suggest that the teacher is an absentee figure in a childs learning, but acts as a guide to

assess where the child is currently in their development, and what tools and experiences

they will require in order to master new skills. This notion seems to be inspired by

Vygotskys (1996) zone of proximal development, which places an emphasis on the role

of the teacher or more capable peers providing the necessary scaffolding for a child to

move from his current level of mastery to the next.

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References

John-Steiner, V. & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and

development: A Vygotskian framework, Educational Psychologist, 31, 191-206.

Von Glasersfeld, E. (2008). Learning as a constructive activity. AntiMatters, 2(3), 33-

49.