Constructing Understandings

Abstract

In this 50th anniversary of the Jean Piaget Society, we have been asked to celebrate “The Having of Wonderful Ideas” and Other Essays on Teaching and Learning (2006) – winner of the 1988 AERA award for outstanding research contribution in the areas of teaching and teacher education, now in its 3rd edition, published on four continents, in 7 languages. We have taken the name that Inhelder gave to Piaget's research method — Critical Exploration — as the basis for the name of our approach to teaching — Critical Exploration in the Classroom. In this paper we talk about what that name and this book mean to our teaching and to constructivism.

The Future of Constructivist Education

“…In 1987, Eleanor Duckworth's book, The Having of Wonderful Ideas, began to transform K-12 classroom practices, and it has continued to influence several generations of teachers. This tradition is represented in detail in this issue (see Duckworth et al, 2022). Other scholars and teacher educators have also been pioneers in making constructivist classroom practice a reality, especially during early childhood and elementary education, including Kamii (1985), Fosnot (1989), DeVries (DeVries & Zan, 1994), Kroll (2018), and largely kindred spirit Maxine Greene (1995).…”

“…This reframing contradicts the Piagetian impulse to encourage exploration of the world, other people, and ideas (cf. Duckworth, 2006;Duckworth et al, 2022). The dynamic and transformative character of assimilation-accommodation can become bureaucratized and prescribed as a regularized and canonical presentation of how problems should be examined and solved.…”

Conceptual Commitments of Constructivism in an Age when Truth Matters

“…They argue that organizational normative practices intended to enhance development may in fact constrain those who do not necessarily adhere to dominant dis-courses, meanings, and practices. Duckworth et al (2022) (this issue) elaborate on the flip side of the same coin. Their democracy of ideas -the method of creating classroom contexts in which all students express their ideas regardless of "smarts" or privilege, and teachers take students' ideas seriously, suppressing their own authorityis a model for developing norms of equity and inclusion.…”

“…Kritt and Budwig (2022) (this issue) demonstrate how changing societal values and policies influence educational practices and lead to either a more process-or product-centered emphasis in assessing educational outcomes. Also focused on education, in this case, of young children, Duckworth et al (2022) (this issue) look closely at transformations over time in how children come to know and understand their worlds through active exploration and the conflicts and surprises it engenders.…”