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http://dx.doi.org/10.7468/mathedu.2021.60.3.387

Reflections on the application of progressivism and constructivism in mathematics education  

Park, Jeongseon (Yeosu Girl's High School)
Shin, Jaehong (Korea National University of Education)
Publication Information
The Mathematical Education / v.60, no.3, 2021 , pp. 387-407 More about this Journal
Abstract
The present study was conducted on the assumptions that both progressivist and constructivist education emphasized the subjective knowledge of learners and confronted similar problems when the derived educational principles from the two perspectives were adopted and applied to mathematics research and practice. We argue that progressivism and constructivism should have clarified the meaning, purpose, and direction of 'emphasizing subjective knowledge' in application to the particular educational field. For the issue, we reflected Dewey's theory on the application of past progressivism, and aligned with it, we took a critical view of the educational applications of current constructivism. As a result, first, the meaning of emphasizing subjective knowledge is that each of the students constructs a unique mathematical reality based on his or her experience of situations and cognitive structures, and emphasizes our understanding of this subjective knowledge as researchers/observers. Second, the purpose of emphasizing subjective knowledge is not to emphasize subjective knowledge itself. Rather, it concerns the meaningful learning of objective knowledge: internalization of objective knowledge and objectification of subjective knowledge. Third, the application of the emphasis on subjective knowledge does not specify certain teaching/learning methods as appropriate, but orients us toward a genuine learner-centered reform from below. The introspections, we wish, will provide new momentum for discussion to establish constructivism as a coherent theory in mathematics classrooms.
Keywords
Dewey; progressivism; constructivism; subjective knowledge;
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