Critical Constructivism for Teaching and Learning in a Democratic Society‪.‬

Practice is never a simple application of general rules to concrete situations ... (Bettancourt, 1993) We begin with a caveat: We do not believe it is possible to derive any straightforward recipe for teaching practice from constructivism, or any other general theory. Attempts to make recipes out of educational theories tend to make them rigid, languid, and unable to motivate teachers or students. Such has been the fate of constructivism. As an educational reform, constructivism has become inert, merely another detachable means to whatever curriculum ends politicians or educational authorities prescribe. Since our first introduction to it over twenty years ago, we have been generally enthusiastic about the constructivist view of meaning and knowledge creation. Understanding both that knowledge is constructed and "how" it is constructed serves to reveal the contingency and contextuality as well as theory- and value-ladenness inherent in knowledge. Theory-ladenness of observation, for example, is a phenomenon that one's observations are influenced in various ways by one's background. In other words, observations and experiences have to be interpreted to be meaningful and it is this unavoidable association of a theoretical dimension that represents theory-ladenness. Awareness of these characteristics more readily renders all knowledge claims subject to deconstruction and reconstruction, an important basis for a more critical, creative, and mindful approaches to teaching and learning.