“And yet, in country after country, the teaching methods being promoted are the ones that research says work least well for beginners”
I’ve spent the last few years trying to answer that question. The result is a paper I’m polishing with my colleagues Kenzen Chen, Olav Schewe, and Terry Sejnowski. Its core argument is simple: the dominant framework in education—constructivism—is structured so that it can never be shown to be wrong. And a framework that can’t fail can’t improve.
The idea that can’t be wrong
Here’s the basic logic. Constructivism starts with a truism: learners construct knowledge in their own minds rather than having it beamed in through thought transference. Of course they do. No one disagrees with that.
But from this obvious point, a much bigger claim gets smuggled in: because learners construct knowledge, teachers should step back and let students discover things on their own. Less explanation. Less practice. More exploration.
