Most, but not all Emergent Complexity Discourses are explicitly aligned with Complex Systems Research – that is, they are concerned with understanding systems that transcend their parts. A uniting theme of Emergent Complexity Discourses is that global behaviors cannot be predicted on the basis of the rules governing the individual agents.
Correspondence Discourses are perspectives on learning that assume a radical separation of mental (or internal, or brain-based) and physical (or external, or body-based). That separation sets up the need for a correspondence between what’s happening in the real, objective world and what’s happening in one’s inner, subjective world. Most assume object-based metaphors, linear/direct imagery, and Newtonian mechanics, thus framing learning in terms of acquiring, attaining, inputting, and/or linking.
Ecology is the domain of science focused on the relationships of living things to their environments. As is frequently noted, the word is derived from the Greek for “house, dwelling place,” highlighting a simultaneous attentiveness to both the individual elements and to the system that comprises and transcends those elements. In education, proponents drawing on Ecological Discourses typically foreground multiple forms of relationship (e.g., biological, social, epistemological) while frequently situating discussions in relation to environmental well-being.
Directive Pedagogies include those attitudes and approaches to teaching that assume directional movement of information and authority from the teacher to the student. Images of straight lines figure prominently in discussions and enactments of Directive Pedagogies, including the teacher-to-student line of information flow, the first-to-twelfth-grade trajectory of learner progress, and so on.
Rationalism positions reason as both the source and the measure of sound knowledge. It begins with the assumption that reality has a logical structure. Hence, all versions of Rationalism privilege formal, deductive logic. Some versions also permit other Modes of Reasoning, provided the reasoner is explicitly aware of the mode being used and the purpose for its application.
Empiricism is more commonly understood as a theory of knowledge than a theory of learning, but the line is often blurred in discussions of education. Empiricism states that knowledge comes from sensory experience, and thus emphasizes the role of experience and evidence. The “hard” version of Empiricism is associated with rigorous scientific research, and the “softer” versions emphasize inquiry, exploration, sense-making, and argumentation.
Knowledge is … both parts to assemble and assemblages of parts
Knowing is … acting on assembled truths
Learner is … an assembler
Learning is … putting together
Teaching is … breaking things down
Originated
Ancient
Synopsis
Reductionism is a descriptive notion that can be applied to any discourse that embraces the premise that an object, agent, event, or any other type of phenomenon can be fully understood in terms of either simpler phenomena or as the sum of its parts. Types of Reductionism include:
Methodological Reductionism – any approach to study that is oriented by an intention to provide explanations for phenomena in terms of smaller or simpler phenomena.
Ontological Reductionism – any belief system in which the entirety of reality is seen to consist of different combination of a few specified parts or elements (such as, e.g., earth, fire, air, and water).
Theory Reductionism – an assertion that new, more expansive and/or powerful theories operate by reducing previous theories to simpler or more basic terms.
While usually applied specifically to discussions of knowledge (rather than learning), the assumptions of Reductionism and its subdiscourses are evident in virtually all Correspondence Discourses.
Status as a Theory of Teaching
Reductionism is not a theory of teaching, but its core premise is pervasively present in modern schooling – and especially evident in Directive Pedagogies.
Status as a Scientific Theory
The notion that a phenomenon might be understood by reducing it to simpler phenomena was foundational to modern science, and so Reductionism is integral to both Empiricism and Rationalism. However, the realization that some phenomena transcend their parts has exposed Reductionism as an over-applied assumption rather than a defensible principle of scientific study. It is relevant and appropriate to many phenomena, but it is of limited relevance and use in the study of such complex phenomena as learning.
Subdiscourses:
Methodological Reductionism
Ontological Reductionism
Theory Reductionism
Map Location
Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2020). “Reductionism” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.
