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Contemporary Constructivism and Its Usefulness in a Confucian Context

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Constructivism and Teachers in Chinese Culture
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate why youeryuan teachers in Chinese culture think constructivism is useful. I discuss constructivism as a “theory of knowing” wherein children cocreate meanings based on their prior experience (Edmundson, 2013). Because the underlying philosophy is that learning takes place when children actively make cognitive changes through personal discovery of knowledge and social interactions, children’s cognitive development cannot be separated from their intellectual, affective, and moral development, which together lead toward well-being (Dewey, 1980). Accordingly, teachers mainly act as facilitators and environment creators (Fosnot, 2005b; Glasersfeld, 2005).

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Wei, Z. (2019). Contemporary Constructivism and Its Usefulness in a Confucian Context. In: Constructivism and Teachers in Chinese Culture. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2691-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2691-2_1

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