"'And They Lived Happily Ever After": The Fairy Tale of Radical Constructivism and Von Glasersfeld's Ethical Disengagement

Autor/in	d'Agnese, Vasco
Titel	"'And They Lived Happily Ever After": The Fairy Tale of Radical Constructivism and Von Glasersfeld's Ethical Disengagement
Quelle	In: Ethics and Education, 10 (2015) 2, S.131-151 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1744-9642
DOI	10.1080/17449642.2014.999425
Schlagwörter	Ethics; Constructivism (Learning); Moral Values; Educational Philosophy; Theories; Western Civilization; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Characteristics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ethik; Moral value; Ethischer Wert; Bildungsphilosophie; Erziehungsphilosophie; Theory; Theorie; Lehrerverhalten
Abstract	Is von Glasersfeld's constructivism actually radical? In this article, I respond to this question by analyzing von Glasersfeld's main works. I argue that the essential theoretical move of radical constructivism--namely the assertion that reality is the construction of a human mind that only responds to the subjective perception of "what fits"--results in a conservative vision of reality, knowledge, and education. To the extent that the friction with, and the challenge of, reality is eliminated, knowledge remains only a subjective affair and the world is reduced to a living tautology. In this way, von Glasersfeld constructs a theory of ethical disengagement in which personal responsibility is de facto denied. Thus, to the extent that education entails (and, in a sense, is) responsibility, change, and comparison, radical constructivism is a theory that is unsuitable for education. I also attempt to argue that the equivalence between radical constructivism and relativism and nihilism that many support is incorrect; relativism and nihilism, indeed, stem from a strong moral stance; thus, they may be educationally promising. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01