Western educators constantly look for ways to make the process of learning more meaningful, to kindle the spark that initiates a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and creative innovation. Recent theories have favored the development of critical learning skills over the acquisition of facts. However, these theories are rooted in Western democratic and egalitarian assumptions, some of which exist in no other culture on earth. Although it seems logical that any learner, set at liberty to explore the world, would naturally develop the ability to think critically and analytically, it is important to point out that Western logic is not universal, and what seems natural is, in fact, a product of the Western independence-oriented worldview. This book examines the consequences of taking a full-blown constructivist approach into Arabic tertiary education, and uncovers some interesting hidden factors that prevent cognitive progress in this environment. This seemingly natural approach to learning does not, in fact, come naturally, but requires careful preparation to enable learners to accept cognitive experiences that may be culturally uncomfortable.

Western educators constantly look for ways to make the process of learning more meaningful, to kindle the spark that initiates a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and creative innovation. Recent theories have favored the development of critical learning skills over the acquisition of facts. However, these theories are rooted in Western democratic and egalitarian assumptions, some of which exist in no other culture on earth. Although it seems logical that any learner, set at liberty to explore the world, would naturally develop the ability to think critically and analytically, it is important to point out that Western logic is not universal, and what seems natural is, in fact, a product of the Western independence-oriented worldview. This book examines the consequences of taking a full-blown constructivist approach into Arabic tertiary education, and uncovers some interesting hidden factors that prevent cognitive progress in this environment. This seemingly natural approach to learning does not, in fact, come naturally, but requires careful preparation to enable learners to accept cognitive experiences that may be culturally uncomfortable.

This edited collection brings to the forefront attempts to connect critical pedagogy and ELT (English Language Teaching) in different parts of the world. The authors in this collection write from their own experiences, giving the chapters nuanced understanding of the everyday struggles that teachers, teacher educators and researchers face within different contexts. Throughout the book, contributors connect micro-contexts (classrooms) with macro-contexts (world migration, politics and social issues) to demonstrate the impact and influences of pedagogy. In problematizing ELT and focusing on so-called ‘peripheral’ countries where educators have created their own critical pedagogies to respond to their own local realities, the contributors construct ELT in a way that goes beyond the typical ESL/EFL distinction. This unique edited collection will appeal to teacher educators, in-service teachers working in the field as well as students and scholars of English language teaching, second language acquisition and language education policy.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major practical theoretical contributions. This influential volume of papers, chosen by Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith before she passed away, recognises her major contribution to the field of developmental psychology. Published over a 40-year period, the papers included here address the major themes that permeate through Annette’s work: from typical to atypical development, genetics and computation modelling approaches, and neuroimaging of the developing brain. A newly written introduction by Michael S. C. Thomas and Mark H. Johnson gives an overview of her research journey and contextualises her selection of papers in relation to changes in the field over time. Thinking Developmentally from Constructivism to Neuroconstructivism: Selected Works of Annette Karmiloff-Smith is of great interest to researchers and postgraduates in child development specialising in atypical development, developmental disorders, and developmental neuroscience. It also has appeal to clinical neuropsychologists and rehabilitation professionals.

This volume presents twelve original papers on constructivism - some sympathetic, others critical - by a distinguished group of moral philosophers. 'Kantian constructivism holds that moral objectivity is to be understood in terms of a suitably constructed social point of view that all can accept. Apart from the procedure of constructing the principles of justice, there are no moral facts.' So wrote John Rawls in his highly influential 1980 Dewey lectures 'Kantian Constructivism in Moral Theory'. Since then there has been much discussion of constructivist understandings, Kantian or otherwise, both of morality and of reason more generally. Such understandings typically seek to characterize the truth conditions of propositions in their target domain in maximally metaphysically unassuming ways, frequently in terms of the outcome of certain procedures or the passing of certain tests, procedures or tests that speak to the distinctively practical concerns of deliberating human agents living together in societies. But controversy abounds over the interpretation and the scope as well as the credibility of such constructivist ideas. The essays collected here reach to the heart of this contemporary philosophical debate, and offer a range of new approaches and perspectives.

Unique in offering a multidisciplinary perspective on key issues of alternative epistemologies in education, this collection includes contributions from scholars in family therapy, epistemology, and mathematics, science, and language education. These respected researchers were brought together to develop the theme of constructivism as it applies to many diversified fields. This book examines key distinctions of various constructivist epistemologies, comparing and contrasting the various paradigms. Each section provides both keynote positions on a particular alternative paradigm as well as critical comments by respondents regarding that position. Several chapters also present a synthesis of the alternative epistemological perspectives.

Constructivist Instruction: Success or Failure? brings together leading thinkers from both sides of the hotly debated controversy about constructivist approaches to instruction. Although constructivist theories and practice now dominate the fields of the learning sciences, instructional technology, curriculum and teaching, and educational psychology, they have also been the subject of sharp criticism regarding sparse research support and adverse research findings. This volume presents: the evidence for and against constructivism; the challenges from information-processing theorists; and commentaries from leading researchers in areas such as text comprehension, technology, as well as math and science education, who discuss the constructivist framework from their perspectives. Chapters present detailed views from both sides of the controversy. A distinctive feature of the book is the dialogue built into it between the different positions. Each chapter concludes with discussions in which two authors with opposing views raise questions about the chapter, followed by the author(s)’ responses to those questions; for some chapters there are several cycles of questions and answers. These discussions, and concluding chapters by the editors, clarify, and occasionally narrow the differences between positions and identify needed research.