ETEC Blog P Collins

What is radical constructivism and what has been my experience with it?
From several accounts, radical constructivism, appears to be the evil twin of a rather benign philosophy. And truth be told, that also sums up my first experience with a formal introduction to constructivism as pedagogy. I can still remember sitting in my science education class and watching the instructor take a clear fluid and pouring it into a black box. Seconds later a blue fluid emerged from the box and we were told to theorize an explanation for events. Well, I was just coming from three years of field research and could not for the life of me wrap my mind around this being the new process for teaching science. How could you develop a sound hypothesis for experimentation with zero back ground knowledge? What had happened to labs, text resources and lectures from experts? I found it a bit irritating and irrational.
It was something of a shock and unfortunately completely turned me off from learning anything further about the concept of constructivism. That was until I had started my ETEC coursework and I realized there was significantly more to the explanation. And, completely unawares to me, I had already incorporated a variety of constructivist ideas into my teaching practice. Mostly relying upon how I was taught as a youngster by my parents and the influence of Aboriginal elders in my life.
I am still a bit wary of radical constructivism. An idea that suggests that knowledge and truth can only be generated from a young person’s own sensory experiences no matter how limited their understanding. How could this provide an appropriate base for a comprehension of complex objects and ideas of 21st century science? I agree with M. Matthews that this is a “fatal substitution” between what we perceive as reality and what good old-fashioned empirical data shows us about reality. The objectivist approach which relies upon more programmed instruction shouldn’t be totally discarded. I heard it said one time that there are two basic ways to learn – we learn either by our mistakes or by role modelling. Wouldn’t a combination of these philosophies be the most constructive and effective? A mash up of what the experts tell us and some experiential learning?
I’m wondering how many the-world-is-flat folks would still be out there if we all relied solely on our sensory perceptions…..
If you have time check out this clip from von Glaserfeld on radical constructivism.