Commentary on George Hein's article, “The Challenge of Constructivist Teaching”

Overall, I found the article to be an unexpected delight. In his “prologue”, Dr. Hein illustrates that interdisciplinarity can bring benefits to the classroom and then proceeds with a largely reasoned introduction to constructivism and offers his personal journey before outlining his response to the challenge of developing a course that embodied the constructivist theory. Upon further reading, I realized that the aforementioned course was the predecessor to Interdisciplinary Seminar I and it laid a wonderful historical foundation for my understanding of our initiative. Amid this reading, I did connect with issues of power relationships in education, the Discoverists posit that knowledge can be right or wrong and, lastly, the reason why this is especially appropriate for interdisciplinarians in light of, as George Hein states, “the few semesters in which he found it painful to face another three hours”.

            I am a university professor, and in that light, I experience the balance of power between undergraduates and their instructor. My students, largely, expect to be fed what is ‘right’ and then offered the opportunity to regurgitate the truth in examination. Their subservience to the knowledge and faith in this process ensure that I am in control in the classroom. I strive for a different pedagogy and I notice their fear of personal empowerment and the accompanying responsibility. As Dr. Hein acknowledges, shifting power, even in a constructivist methodology can be palatable.

The concept of knowledge as being right or wrong was highlighted for me when I took my first course here at Lesley University this summer and experienced a constructivist pedagogy. In collaborative work, as part of a process, not knowing if it is “right’ and not knowing if your cohort is “right” can be daunting. I can understand how the ‘unenlightened’ student can be wary of group work constructed from each team member’s interpretation of the text and I strive for more enlightenment.

Lastly, I can understand a benefit for interdiscipinarians in the constructivist methodology as Dr. Hein proffers, and I do see theories of knowledge and theories of learning working in continua with best practice often residing apart from the extremities.