Authenticity and Constructivism in Education |
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Authors: | Laurance J Splitter |
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Institution: | (1) Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA |
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Abstract: | This paper examines the concept of authenticity and its relevance in education, from a philosophical perspective. Under the
heading of educational authenticity (EA), I critique Fred Newmann’s views on authentic pedagogy and intellectual work. I argue
against the notion that authentic engagement is usefully analyzed in terms of a relationship between school work and: “real”
work. I also seek to clarify the increasingly problematic concept of constructivism, arguing that there are two distinct constructivist
theses, only one of which deserves serious attention. I explain that the correspondence view of authenticity pays insufficient
attention to the reality that the presence of “real world” connections does not guarantee that teaching and learning will
be truly authentic. As a bridge to a philosophically acceptable understanding of authenticity, I reflect on John Dewey, who
famously strove to base his views on education on the experience of the child, while rejecting that such experience requires
validation from the “real” world. And Jean Jacques Rousseau offers several clues as to how the search for an authentic self
might proceed beyond the Romanticist vision of an inner essence. These include the idea of the self as constructed inter-subjectively,
which I capture by the term “one among others” and which, in turn, reveals persons as dialogically engaged in working out
who they are and what they stand for (an idea found in the work of Charles Taylor). There is a clear affinity here with the
imperative proposed by Newmann. I embrace the idea that the cultivation of dialogue should be a key priority in classrooms,
because dialogue drives each individual to seek meaning in the context of seeing her/himself as one among others. I highlight
the role of the classroom community of inquiry as an environment which has the dual function of cultivating disciplined inquiry
and facilitating the kind of personal development that can, most properly, be termed “authentic”.
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Keywords: | Authenticity Educational authenticity Dewey Newmann Rousseau Taylor Constructivism Meaning Self among others Community of inquiry |
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