Relational Constructivism

Non-Trivial Constructivisms encompass a range of learning theories that invoke a “learning as construing” – vs. a “learning as constructing” – metaphor. The construing–constructing distinction is critical, and it became an issue because the French verb construire can be translated as either “to construe” (i.e., to integrate elements to make sense of) or “to construct” (i.e., to build something).

Deep vs. Surface Learning highlights a divergence of opinion around what it means to know something. Deep Learning is associated with intrinsically motivated forms of engagement, characterized by making meaningful connections between new and previous understandings. Surface Learning tends to be associated with extrinsic motivations and is focused on the memorization and recall of information for formulaic responses.

Embeddedness Discourses comprise perspectives on learning that refuse separations of self from other and individual from collective. Perceived boundaries among persons and peoples are understood as heuristic conveniences, as collective phenomena are recognized to unfold from and to be enfolded in individual phenomena. Phrased differently, collective forms are understood as learning bodies.

Radical Constructivism focuses on personal knowing – that is, the ongoing, iterative dynamic by which individuals construe coherent sense from their personal perceptions and experiences. Concisely, learning is understood as a continuous process of revising concepts to maintain personal coherence in the face of new experiences/demands.

Embodiment Discourses comprise perspectives on learning that refuse a separation of mental and physical. Mental and physical are understood as integrated and inseparable aspects of the body. Phrased differently, the body is not seen as something that a learner learns through, but as the learner. Correspondingly, behaviors are not seen as goals or indications of learning, but as integral elements of learning.

Social Constructivism is a version of Constructivism in which particular attention is given to interactions with others. Those interactions are seen as integral to understanding personal construals and development. Social Constructivism shares Social Constructionism’s interest in jointly construed understandings of the world, but it is more focused on individual learning than in social constructs.

Genetic Epistemology is a theory of the genesis/origins of knowing/epistemology, in which learning is framed as an adaptive process in which the principal criteria of personal truth are coherence among elements of understanding and their utility for making sense of one’s own experience, not match between internal, subjective interpretations and external, objective reality. Cognitive Developmentalism is a key element of Genetic Epistemology.

Modes of Reasoning refers to a range of conscious processes used to derive or validate assertions based on established understandings. It is most commonly associated with logical deduction, but humans actually use a range of strategies to generate their truths, including Inductive Reasoning (Bottom-Up Logic), Abductive Reasoning, Analogical Reasoning, and Bounded Rationality. There is broad debate over the relative importance of each of type.