Author Description

Product Description This international and interdisciplinary collection of chapters presents and discusses the many issues and educational practices that are touched on by constructivism. Drawing on perspectives from a range of different fields (ethics, mathematics education, philosophy, social psychology, science education, social studies), this book invites us to reposition ourselves in relation to the major currents that have influenced education in this century, namely pragmatism, genetic epistemology, and social interactionism. The essays call for new reflection on the questions that are central to the project of education and that, in particular, involve the validity of knowledge and types of knowledge, the compartmentalization of school subjects, the mediating role of teachers, and, above all, the ends of education. In so doing, this book relaunches the discussion on constructivism's potential for the social empowerment of groups and individuals. Review "Marie Larochelle, Nadine Bednarz and Jim Garrison well deserve praise in acting as editors of the stimulating set of fifteen papers in Constructivism and education. These contributions show with some clarity that education can and does have an intellectual rationale in the epistemology of constructivism." Leslie Smith, Studies in Science Education Book Description This international collection of chapters presents and discusses the many issues and educational practices that are touched on by constructivism. This publication is not only unique in terms of its theme, but also in terms of approach. It draws on the perspectives offered by a variety of fields (ethics, philosophy, social psychology, social studies, science education, mathematics education), and it has been enriched by the diversity of sociocultural viewpoints offered by the contributors (Belgium, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States). About the Author Larochelle-Un