The book I picked up promised to lift the lid on why so many fail to develop as readers. It zeroed in on the standard culprits: poverty, inequality.
Then it took a right turn and picked a fight with the idea of constructivism, calling it a discredited theory based on outdated science, instead arguing that learning is reliant on deliberate instruction by the teacher (you know, fill the empty vessel). I didn’t have enough time to digest the whole argument before heading into a class, but what I did read sure made me think.
And on the drive home, I wondered … is the existence of questions evidence of the truth of constructivism? Yes, I may be asked a question that someone knows I have the answer to because they have provided me with the knowledge required to answer it (like a 3 level guide). But what about the questions I ask of myself? Where does the answer to those some from? Is that not personal constructivism in action?