Radical Constructivism

Regarding the Kantian perspective, the mind does not derive laws from nature yet imposes them on it. Therefore, the focus shifts from objects of knowledge (the known) to knowers of objects (the knower). According to Piaget (1936) the mind starts not with knowledge of the self or knowledge of things yet it starts with knowledge of their interaction, and it is directing itself simultaneously towards the two poles of the interaction which the mind organizes the world by means of organizing itself. Hence, the organization of knowledge is the result of interaction which is also called as adaptation, between an organism exhibiting a conscious intelligence and the environment. 

Radical Constructivism postulates that all knowledge is human knowledge and all is mediated through subjective or intersubjective human experience. Therefore, truth is not certain yet provisional, knowledge is not discovered yet made and the world is not objective yet constructed through experience. Truth in constructivism is replaced by viability in radical constructivism (von Glaserfeld, 1998) due to the fact that constructions do not reflect knowledge of a real world but coming to know is a process of dynamic adaptation towards viable interpretations of experiences. Therefore, there is no way of knowing what reality is because input is filtered. Since previous constructs influence people’s perceptions of their current experience,  viable models are constructed based on social and physical constraints. Due to the fact that knowledge can never be independent of the experience of the observer, in conceptual thinking what matters is not pointing at one only possible knowledge or answer yet it is to display successful operating of the mind. Thus, the observer tries to generate information as well as knowledge and there is a tendency to look for something familiar or the observer already knows so that making meaning takes place faster.

All in all, according to Brooks and Brooks (1993) constructivist learners need to construct knowledge rather than passively absorb it, they are supposed to take the responsibility of their own learning and manage their own learning process by means of interpreting their own understanding of knowledge and reality and finally, they should learn how to think and be a thinker. Moreover, teachers’ role changes from a presenter of knowledge to a provider of experiences. Thus, constructivist teachers are one of many resources that students can learn from, not the primary source of information, they need to engage students in experiences that challenge previous conceptions of their existing knowledge, they also should support the idea of questioning by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions, they are supposed to encourage and accept student autonomy as well as initiative and willing to let go of classroom control.