Social constructivism

Not to be confused with Social constructionism or Constructivism (philosophy of education). For other uses, see Constructivism (disambiguation).

Social constructivism is a sociological theory of knowledge according to which human development is socially situated, and knowledge is constructed through interaction with others.[1] Like social constructionism, social constructivism states that people work together to actively construct artifacts. But while social constructivism focuses on cognition, social constructionism focuses on the making of social reality.[2]

A very simple example is an object like a cup. The object can be used for many things, but its shape does suggest some 'knowledge' about carrying liquids (see also Affordance). A more complex example is an online course—not only do the 'shapes' of the software tools indicate certain things about the way online courses should work, but the activities and texts produced within the group as a whole will help shape how each person behaves within that group. A person's cognitive development will also be influenced by the culture that they are involved in, such as the language, history, and social context. For a philosophical account of one possible social-constructionist ontology, see the 'Criticism' section of Representative realism.[3]

  1. ^ McKinley, J. (2015). "Critical Argument and Writer Identity: Social Constructivism as a Theoretical Framework for EFL Academic Writing" (PDF). Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. 12 (3): 184–207. doi:10.1080/15427587.2015.1060558. S2CID 53541628. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  2. ^ Schwandt, Thomas A. (1998). "Constructivist, Interpretivist Approaches to Human Inquiry". In Denzin, Norman K.; Lincoln, Yvonna S. (eds.). The landscape of qualitative research: theories and issues. Thousand Oaks (Calif.) London New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-0-7619-1433-4.
  3. ^ See also Wright, Edmond (2005) Narrative, Perception, Language, and Faith. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 103–120.