A school of educators who call themselves constructivists
argue that young students actually construct knowledge on their own.
But is this really true?
Apart from the dedication & efforts of their teachers
and the concrete, specific goals that their teachers & parents &
caregivers formulate for them & then track, I think that most students do
not construct knowledge.
There may be visible vestiges of this that appear like
ghosts from time to time – facsimiles and simulacrums, that the irrational can
point to & claim: “There! There it is!”
But too often, these are chimera, products of
wish-fulfillment & expectations on the part of adults who fervently believe
that ideology may, perhaps, override reality if we wish hard enough.
It is true that knowledge & learning are always possible
in a vacuum or in mental vacuity, but the only individuals who can achieve
these great gifts without the help & assistance of educators already
possess them.
JLS
