Sarah’s Blog is about …

I have been having a dialogue with colleagues over the past few years about the notion of “Communal Constructivism”. There have been a number of papers written on the subject (e.g. Leask & Younie, 2002; Holmes et al, 2001)

Not least, I have an issue with the term ‘communal’. For me it suggests that those who are co-constructing knowledge are doing so to share some commonality in what it is they learn. However this perceived implication, instantly cuts out one group of learners who might work tangentally with others to co-construct new knowledge which is pertinent to specific and individual contexts rather than as a whole to move one body of knowledge forward.

I would much prefer to see the coinage as “Collaborative Constructivism” and I’ll be looking at this as part of my PhD work.

Tags:   Learning Theory · PedagogyNo Comments