Constructivism

Philosophical Framework

From a philosophical perspective, it is important to discuss the framework within which constructivism exists to understand the significance of the construct and its impact. Within philosophy, two of the main branches of investigation are ontology and epistemology. Ontology is the study of reality; it focuses on the question of existence: What kinds of things exist? What does it mean for something to exist? Although this is a very abstract branch of philosophy, there are generally two major positions on the nature of existence within ontological investigations.

First, there is the realist stance, which states (generally) that there is one single reality and that it exists independent of human experience. Within the realist stance, there are various approaches, some suggesting that people can understand reality given appropriate methods of investigation and some suggesting that although people strive to understand reality, this understanding is only approximate at best and that reality is different from how individuals perceive it.

Despite this, however, better methods of investigation and better understanding (although not ultimate understanding) continue to be developed; this is why it is said that “science at its best is tentative in nature.” The agenda in science is to create a progressively better knowledge of the world and the principles on which reality exists. The second stance within ontology is the relativist stance, which states that reality is constructed within the human mind and that no one “true” reality exists. Instead, reality is “relative” according to how individuals experience it within the flow of experience.

The second major branch of philosophy discussed here is epistemology. This is the study of knowing—what is the scope and nature of knowledge. The focus within this branch of philosophy is the creation and dissemination of knowledge. Although this branch is also complex, for this review it is sufficient to state that constructivism is one of three primary attempts to answer two major epistemological questions: How do individuals know what they know about the world? How do they learn or acquire their knowledge?

One response to these questions, termed idealism, suggests that knowledge is primarily acquired by a priori processes or that the knowledge that humans possess is innate. The second response, positivism, is a form of objectivist epistemology; it assumes that knowledge is acquired directly and passively via experience with the senses. There is an assumption of both ontological naive realism and objectivity such that knowledge can be transmitted to someone directly via sense data. Constructivism was the third response to these questions, with the belief that knowledge is constructed rather than discovered, that because there is not an objective truth waiting to be discovered, truth or meaning is constructed through a person’s engagement with the world via crucial cognitive processes.

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