Thickening the discussion: Inspecting constructivist theories of knowledge through a Jamesian lens

Educational Theory

Volumn 52, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 43-59

  Woods, Bradford S ^a   Murphy, P Karen ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA   (United States)

^b OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0042210956     PISSN: 00132004     EISSN: 17415446     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-5446.2002.00043.x     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. William James, "Necessary Truths," iN The Writings of William fames: A Comprehensive Edition, ed. J.J. McDermott (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977), 115.
2. B.H. Smith, "Making (up) the Truth: Constructivist Contributions," University of Toronto Quarterly 61, no. 4 (1992): 428.
3. Indeed, we find the technology-as-panacea debate to be of a similar fabric as our own qualms with cureall educational reform. For a discussion of the technology debate, see Neil Postman, Technopoly (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992).
4. For further elucidation of iterative trends in educational reform, see Patricia A. Alexander and Stephanie L. Knight, "Dimensions of the Interplay between Learning and Teaching," The Educational Forum 57 (1993): 232-45.
5. Larry Cuban, "Reforming Again, Again, and Again," Educational Researcher 19 (1990): 3-13.
6. Patricia A. Alexander, P. Karen Murphy, and Bradford S. Woods, "Of Squalls and Fathoms: Navigating the Seas of Educational Innovation," Educational Researcher 25, no. 3 (1996): 31-36, 39.
7. William James, "The Stream of Thought," In McDermott, The Writings of William James, 72.
8. Ernst von Glasersfeld, Radical Constructivism in Mathematics Education (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer 77-78, 93., 1991), 40, 42-43.
9. John Dewey, Reconstruction in Philosophy (Boston: Beacon Press, 1948), vi.
10. "Habit," in McDermott, The Writings of William James, 21.
11. James, Stream of Thought, 23.
12. James, "Necessary Truths and the Effects of Experience," 74.
13. James, "Stream of Thought," 33.
14. John J. McDermott, "Introduction," In McDermott, The Writings of William James, xxix.
15. Richard Wilshire, "The Breathtaking Intimacy of the Material World: William James's Last Thoughts," In The Cambridge Companion to William James, ed. Ruth Anna Putnam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 115.
16. Von Glasersfeld, "Introduction," xiv.
17. Patricia A. Alexander, Diane L. Schallert, and V. C. Hare, "Coming to Terms: How Researchers in Learning and Literacy Talk about Knowledge," Review of Educational Research 61, no. 30 (1991): 315-43.
18. Robert Stake and Donald Kerr, "Renée; Magritte, Constructivism, and the Researcher as Interpreter," Educational Theory 45, no. 1 (1995): 59.
19. Von Glasersfeld, "Introduction," xiii.
20. D.C. Phillips, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism," Educational Researcher 24, no. 7 (1995): 5.
21. These more recent debates provide yet another template to critique the constructivist project, but lay beyond the purview of this work. See Michael Dummett, Truth and other Enigmas (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978.
22. Paul Horwich, Truth (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
23. Crispin Wright, Truth and Objectivity (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1992).
24. Kenneth Tobin, "Social Constructivist Perspectives on the Reform of Science Education," Australian Science Teachers Journal 36, no. 4 (1990): 29-35.
25. Lauren B. Resnick, "Shared Cognition: Thinking as Social Practice," In Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition, ed. Lauren B. Resnick, John M. Levine, and Stephanie D. Teasiey (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1991), 1-20.
26. For a discussion of conceptual change models, see Paul Pintrich, R.W. Marx, and R. A. Boyle, "Beyond Cold Conceptual Change: The Role of Motivational Beliefs and Classroom Contextual Factors in the Process of Conceptual Change," Review of Educational Research 63, no. 2 (1993): 167-99.
27. For discussion of apprenticeship models of learning, see Barbara Rogoff, Apprenticeship in Thinking (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), and Allan Collins, John Seeley Brown, and Susan E. Newman, "Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the Craft of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics," in Knowing, Learning, and Instruction: Essays in Honor of Robert Glaser, ed. Lauren B. Resnick (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1989), 453-94.
28. Resnick, Shared Cognition, 2.
29. James G. Greeno and Joyee L. Moore, "Situativity and Symbols: Response to Vera and Simon," Cognitive Science 17 (1993): 49-59.
30. D.A. Norman, "Cognition in the Head and in the World: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Situated Action," Cognitive Science 17 (1993): 4.
31. For discussion of constructivism as it relates to science instruction, see Rosalind Driver, Hilary Asoko, John Leach, Eduerdo Mortimer, and Philip Scott, "Constructing Scientific Knowledge in the Classroom," Educational Researcher 23 7 (1994): 5-12.
32. For discussions of constructivism as it relates to mathematics, in addition to von Glasersfeld.
33. Paul Cobb, "Where is the Mind? Constructivist and Sociocultural Perspectives on Mathematical Development," Educational Researcher 23, no. 7 (1994): 13-20.
34. Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962).
35. William James, "A World of Pure Experience," In McDermott, The Writings of William James, 195.
36. James, "Necessary Truths," 75.
37. James, "Stream of Thought," 156.
38. Wilshire, "The Breathtaking Intimacy," 115.
39. William James, "Habit," In The Principles of Psychology, 1 (New York: Dover Publications), 108.
40. William James, The Meaning of Truth (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1997), 85.
41. William James, Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (New York: W.W. Norton, 1958), 23-24.
42. John J. McDermott, Streams of Experience: Reflections on the History and Philosophy of American Culture (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986). 56.
43. James, "Stream of Thought," 41. James' footnote, the quote is attributed to Spenser.
44. McDermott, Streams of Experience.
45. Patricia A. Alexander, P. Karen Murphy, and Bradford S. Woods, "Unearthing Academic Roots: Educators' Perceptions of the Interrelationship of Philosophy, Psychology, and Education," The Educational Forum 61 (1997): 172-86.
46. P. Karen Murphy and Bradford S. Woods, "Situating Knowledge in Learning and Instruction: Unanswered Questions and Future Directions," Educational Psychologist 31 (1996): 141-45.