Radical constructivism

Introduction

The concept of Radical Constructivism was coined by Ernst von Glasersfeld building on the tradition of

Constructivism developed by Piaget. The two basic principles of radical constructivism are that knowledge is not passively received through the senses but is actively constructed by the cognising subject, and that the function of cognition is organisation of the experiential world rather than discovery of an independent reality. In this way his thinking resonates with that of

Donald Hoffman and his

Multimodal user interface (MUI) theory.

In Radical Constructivism;

Knowledge is constructed

Learning is active

Truth is unknowable

Ernst von Glasersfeld developed radical constructivism by coupling Piaget’s theory of learning and philosophical viewpoint about the nature of knowledge with Kant’s rejection of an objective reality independent of human perception or reason. Radical constructivism does not view knowledge as an attempt to generate ideas that match an independent, objective reality. Instead, theories and knowledge about the world, as generated by our senses and reason, either fit within the constraints of whatever reality may exist and, thus, are viable or do not and are not viable. As a theory of education, radical constructivism emphasizes the experiences of the learner, differences between learners and the importance of uncertainty

Understanding and acting are seen by radical constructivists not as dualistic processes, but “circularly conjoined”.