Constructivist Assumptions Research Articles

Russia’s Sovereignty and Emergence of Pragmatic Polycentrism

The article researches Russia’s concept of comprehensive sovereignty that is a cornerstone of the official state paradigm. Sovereignty is analyzed in its internal as well as external dimension, both synchronically and diachronically. The concept is interconnected with national security expanding into different realms. Sovereignty-based securitization tendencies are examined through methods of discursive analysis based upon constructivist assumptions. The present study puts emphasis on conceptual constructions and discursive practices significantly affecting individual perceptions, interpretation and Weltanschauung of political leadership as a whole, thereby shaping behavior, strategies and policies of individual actors concerned. The analysis reveals an affinity between concepts and discursive practices of the actors included in the research – Russia, the United States, China, and the European Union. It manifests itself in the concepts of comprehensive sovereignty, America First, dual circulation, and strategic autonomy respectively. These strategies are examined in relation to the transformation of the global order from US-led hegemonism towards polycentrism. The author draws attention to the interactions within the “quadrilateral” consisting of Russia, China, the EU and the US in order to demonstrate the emergence and dynamics of autonomization or regionalization, which is to be regarded as a dialectical moment in the globalization process towards glocalization and pragmatic polycentrism. The author concludes that the EU’s strategic autonomy is a positive feature, but requires the abandonment of Euro-Atlanticism, which thwarts restructuring the Eurasian macroregion in general, and settling Russia-Europe relations in particular.

Civilizational mnemonics and the longue durée: The Bulgarian case

Constructivist assumptions have dominated the field of memory studies, producing an avalanche of case studies focusing on the instrumental and expedient factors shaping memory politics. However, this constructivist bias has also yielded new blind spots. For one, it tends to privilege “events” and “contingencies” over the longue durée of a particular memory configuration. Two, it remains caught in a binary juxtaposition with some states adopting globally circulating mnemonic scripts, signaling universal aspirations, while other states pursue nation-centric approaches. To overcome these blind spots (and binaries), we propose two interrelated conceptual moves: first, we are taking the importance of enduring memory figurations into consideration. Second, we expand the nation-state focus by introducing the notion of “civilizational mnemonics,” which does not replace national memories, but frequently underwrites them. Bulgarian memory politics, our test case, is part of a complex nexus of imperial legacies and post-colonial discourses. Bulgaria has been a middle ground, accommodating competing imperial projects—Ottoman, Russian, and Western. These intersections allow us to draw general inferences about mnemonic tropes and their enduring salience.

Israelite or Moabite? Ethnicity in the book of Ruth

Scholarship on ethnicity in the book of Ruth has taken it as axiomatic that Ruth is transformed (at least partially) into an Israelite by the end of the book. This article argues on narrative grounds that the book of Ruth continues to present Ruth as a Moabite, even at the book’s end. Moreover, scholarship has been mistaken in attempting to force an ancient text to function according to modern constructivist assumptions about ethnicity. Although from our perspective as modern readers, Ruth may undergo changes that would qualify as ethnic transformation, the book of Ruth describes her change in social and kinship terms, rather than ethnic ones: the text itself does not imply that Ruth ceases to be a Moabite.

La webquest como recurso didactico para la promocion de aprendizaje significativo en ciencias naturales y exactas

The Webquest is a type of didactic activity based on constructivist assumptions of the teaching - learning process. This research, in the context of innovation, proposes a didactic experience for three groups of teachers, to design, develop and implement webquest for the teaching of science. It is guided by a guided indagatory methodology that promotes meaningful learning and improves academic performance. The methodological teaching proposal is theoretically based on the significant learning of Ausubel, on cognitive developments of Piaget, zone of proximal development of Vygotsky and the cooperative work of Jonhson and Jonhson. The research is experimental, essentially quantitative, with an exploratory, descriptive study. The results ensure an important advance between the pretest and posttest of each work group, with a tangible product that can be used in the science classrooms.

The peripherals at the core of androcentric knowledge production: an analysis of the managing editor’s knowledge work in The International Encyclopedia of Education (1985)

ABSTRACT Building on the approach that knowledge is socially constructed, this study aims to deepen the understanding of knowledge production processes by adapting the concept of a laboratory on an historical example of editorial collaboration. We use the editorial process of The International Encyclopedia of Education (IEE) (1985) as an example. Considering knowledge as situated in contrast to the illusion of objectivity, the paper pursues identifying a perspective on the editing process that is located in its periphery. Rooted in constructivist assumptions of Science and Technology Studies (STS) andFeminist Standpoint Theory (FST), the paper builds on the potential of understanding the social construction of knowledge by taking marginalised perspectives into account. Including the concept of gendered division of labour, the approach offers a deeper understanding of the editorial process, beyond the presented picture of relevant actors and actions. The source material consists of correspondence concerning the editorial process of the encyclopaedia, which is filed in the archive of Torsten Husén. There, we encountered the publisher’s managing editor Barbara Barrett, the only woman in the editorial board of the IEE’s first edition. By analysing almost 4000 pages of correspondence by coding according to qualitative content analysis it is possible to show that the kind of work that Barrett performed was much more central than presented. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of knowledge production processes and of related marginalisation of certain groups in the past. Hereby, it offers a departure point for reflecting upon present practices.

American Catholic Bishops and the Politics of Scandal: Rhetoric of Authority by Meaghan O'Keefe

Reviewed by: American Catholic Bishops and the Politics of Scandal: Rhetoric of Authority by Meaghan O'Keefe Anthony M. Wachs American Catholic Bishops and the Politics of Scandal: Rhetoric of Authority. By Meaghan O'Keefe. New York: Routledge, 2019. 177 pp. $155.00. The stated goals of O'Keefe's American Catholic Bishops and the Politics of Scandal: Rhetoric of Authority are "(1) to show how structures of argument emerge and are adopted in order to advance particular positions, (2) to link current work in linguistics to the long tradition of rhetoric, and (3) to provide insight on how a specific traditional religious organization has dealt with its loss of authority" (165). To accomplish these goals, O'Keefe analyzes the rhetorical strategies contained primarily within recent U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voting guides in the context of the bishops' loss of authority due to the coverups of priest sexual abuse. One of the most interesting elements of the book is concerned with the unique rhetorical situation of authoritative institutions making arguments within an individualistic culture. More specifically, she explores the question of "how can a group of leaders widely viewed as morally deficient tell anyone how to form their conscience?" (18). In particular, she argues that the USCCB is able to avoid the questioning of its moral standing by utilizing repetition and the question/answer format of the Baltimore Catechism as a persuasive means of establishing authority and "simultaneously stabilizing terms that are contested" (8). Along these lines, O'Keefe analyzes the USCCB voting guides' use of the terminology of "well-formed conscience," "intrinsic evil," and "the dignity of the human person." The most interesting arguments provided in the text are 1) that the bishops' arguments are unique to the American context and are not representative of official teachings of the church concerning these matters, and 2) that the bishops shifted their position with regards to racism and racist acts to appeal to conservative Evangelical Protestants having lost influence over the American laity. In one of the most interesting chapters, and yet possibly telling of her perspective, she provides a constructive read of rhetoric of the Nuns on the Bus campaign in contrast to the USCCB's failed Fortnite for Freedom [End Page 83] campaign. The comparison of these two campaigns is apropos, and yet while she spent most of the book deconstructing the bishops' attempts to maintain doctrinal continuity with church teaching, she provides a constructive approach to the more heterodox Leadership Conference of Women Religious. My largest issue with the text is with regards to the legitimate disciplinary norms concerning rhetoric. An overarching topic of my education and research within rhetorical studies concerns the church's ignorance of its own rhetorical tradition, which is tragic on account of the lost means for engaging with the culture and accomplishing the New Evangelization. However, rhetoric as developed by O'Keefe is far removed from that tradition. For instance, this same study could have been performed utilizing the realist semiotics of St. Augustine rather than relying on the social constructivist assumptions of contemporary rhetorical theorists. Along these lines, O'Keefe notes that the purview of her project is to give "an account of particular texts within a particular period of time, not a study of the rich Catholic tradition on social teaching" (5). The analysis has little to do with the truth of arguments made by the USCCB, but rather the grammatical and textual effects of language upon discourses of authority and power in ideological structures. With that said, I recommend American Catholic Bishops and the Politics of Scandal: Rhetoric of Authority for scholars and teachers interested in engaging with this form of textual, linguistic analysis. However, if one is looking to learn or teach about the rhetoric in a manner that would productively allow for Catholics to engage with the culture, especially through learning about the rhetorical failures of USCCB, this book is not that. Even with my theoretical differences with regards to O'Keefe's approach, I recommend its addition to institutional libraries. Specifically on account of the potential for extending her case study concerning the USCCB to other authoritative institutions. The analysis may be fruitful for...

The educational robotics and Arduino platform: constructionist learning strategies to the teaching of physics

Today, there is a shortage of professionals with skills and knowledge to prepare the workforce of the future. In the 21st century we live in a technological society where the access to information is at our fingertips. In this environment, it is essential to rethink our attitudes towards educating future professionals that can meet the challenges that lies ahead. The school has a fundamental role in forming individuals, but in most cases the teaching methods are archaic and does not meet the reality of the 21st century students. In particular, the teaching of physical sciences, one of the keystones for the development of engineering and technology need to be urgently updated. In Brazilian schools the subject is introduced as disconnected from technology and more importantly from society. To reverse this trend, we have introduced Robotics to stimulate future teachers to engage in learning physical science through hands-on experience with technology at the State University of Maringá, Brazil. Thus, the question that emerges is if the educational approach using robotics, following a constructivist assumption, does modify the attitudes of pre-service teachers and later influences their teaching practices. The main goal of this work is to evaluate the impact of this methodology in constructing teacher’s professional identity, their familiarity with technology, and the introduction of new practices in classroom. Twenty five pre-service physics teachers used Arduino open source platform and educational robotics to assemble and solve open problems in groups of 4 or 5. After a brief introduction to the technology, they were encouraged to find solutions to the problem on their own. The theoretical assumption behind the courses is Papert’s constructionism. During the courses data was collected using video and audio recording as well as semi-structured interviews. After the courses, students were asked to run workshops to other undergraduate students. Through the observation of students in the workshop as well as the accomplishments of a focal analysis group, we evaluate the results of the introduction of robotics in physics teaching. We can identify that to change the future teaching practices and achieve the construction of a strong teaching identity, it is necessary for the student to learn and experience during their initial training period a methodology that provides the necessary subsidies for the development of skills and knowledge related to their teaching. In this way, Educational Robotics methodologically supported by constructionism, favors the reflection and a possible change of practices of future physics teachers, reaching the construction of the professional identity of the teacher.

Rola nauczyciela w aktywizowaniu dzieci na zajęciach plastyczno-technicznych w przedszkolu. Zarys problemu

<p>Oczekiwania społeczne wobec wychowawców placówek edukacyjnych są duże. Mają oni stworzyć uczniom maksymalnie dobre warunki rozwoju. Wychowawcy, niczym ogrodnicy, dbają o to, by podopieczni mogli doskonalić własne umiejętności poprzez zaba-wę. Prezentowane rozważania ukazują rolę nauczyciela w aktywizowaniu uczestników zajęć plastyczno-technicznych. Korzystając z założeń konstruktywizmu, w artykule wskazano nie-które możliwości wspierania podopiecznych w ich twórczych działaniach. Dokonano również przeglądu metod (projektów, niedokończonych rysunków, puzzli, improwizacji, swobodnej ekspresji), dzięki którym uczniowie w sposób samodzielny wykonują zadania, zdobywając kompetencje emancypacyjne. W podsumowaniu przedstawiono najważniejsze warunki sprzyjające aktywizacji i zachęcono nauczycieli do przyjęcia w codziennej pracy postawy refleksyjnej.</p>

Poszukiwanie innowacyjnych rozwiązań w edukacji przedszkolnej. Doświadczenia nauczycielek pracujących na podstawie programu wychowania przedszkolnego Tablit

The article presents Tablit – a kindergarten curriculum, its constructivist assumptions as well as innovative methodology: the Project Approach, Questioning the Author and CLIL. Selected experiences of teachers who had tested the curriculum were analyzed.

Podręczniki zintegrowane dla edukacji wczesnoszkolnej – koncepcja autorów a perspektywa uczniowska

W niniejszym artykule czytelnik zostanie zapoznany z wynikami badań własnych osadzonych wokół merytoryczno-dydaktycznego oraz analityczno – dyskursywnego podejścia w rozważaniach nad podręcznikiem do edukacji wczesnoszkolnej. Do gromadzenia danych jakościowych wykorzystano analizę pakietów edukacyjnych oraz zogniskowane wywiady grupowe z udziałem trzecioklasistów, pogłębione egzemplifikacją wytworzonych w ich toku wytworów – samodzielnie zaprojektowanych przez dzieci zadań podręcznikowych. W trakcie prowadzonych badań poszukiwane były odpowiedzi na następujące pytania badawcze: Jakich umiejętności poznawczych i społecznych uczniów klas początkowych dotyczą zadania proponowane w wybranych podręcznikach dla edukacji wczesnoszkolnej? Jakie są spostrzeżenia uczniów klas trzecich na temat podręczników szkolnych, które wykorzystują na zajęciach? Zestawienie dyskursu podręcznikowego z dyskursem uczniowskim wypada na niekorzyść tych pierwszych. Za pozornym konstruktywistycznym założeniem stojącym u podstaw podręcznika stoi jego czysto transmisyjna forma i realizacja. Wypowiedzi dzieci na temat zawartych w podręcznikach zadań oraz sposobów pracy z pakietem również są niezwykle krytyczne. Jak wynika z wniosków płynących z badań, podręcznik staje się tym, co pogłębia przepaść między światem dziecka i światem dorosłego, zabija motywację do nauki, blokuje twórcze działanie.

Debating the \u2018integration of Islam\u2019: the discourse between governmental actors and Islamic representatives in Germany and the Netherlands

This paper examines what influences the views of governmental and Islamic actors in consultations on the integration of Islam in Germany and the Netherlands. Disentangling institutionalist and constructivist assumptions within the concept of political opportunity structures and employing a content analysis of primary documents and interviews, the paper shows that expectations of both approaches apply: On the one hand, Islamic organizations (as challengers) and governmental representatives (as defenders of the status quo) each problematize the issue differently. Yet, their views also depend on specific national contextual factors (i.e. regimes of immigrant integration and religious governance) and, therefore, differ cross-nationally, too. The paper argues that it is fruitful to uncover the ways participants in the discourses define and conceive of central terms and concepts prevalent in order to disclose their fundamental motivations, interests, and strategies.

Etapy ewaluacji badań jakościowych – perspektywa konstruktywistyczna

The article presents the evaluation stages of qualitative research within the constructivist approach. The stages can be placed on a continuum and treated as the obverse and reverse of the same internally diverse phenomenon. Differences described in analyses of individual development stages of these criteria are related to major influences of different paradigms. The whole allows us to see the crystallisation of the research practice that has different values depending on its version. During the first stage, criteria of research evaluation are strongly influenced by the positivist and post-positivist paradigms. In the second stage, they become a direct emanation of proper constructivist assumptions. In the following stage, one can see the process of gradual emancipation of the research practice from the straitjacket of fixed assumptions; when each time researchers make pragmatic assumptions, they select a set of specific criteria of research quality. During the final stage, the researcher is rehabilitated as the most important instrument of cognition. Verifiability of such research refers to the researcher’s skills and sensitivity, self-control, and interpersonal exchange of knowledge. The evaluation criteria developed in the article can be treated as guidelines supporting the process of designing and conducting qualitative research. Their application might contribute to maintaining high quality of research.

IDENTITAS DALAM HUBUNGAN INTERNASIONAL: DILEMA KEBIJAKAN LUAR NEGERI FINLANDIA DALAM KRISIS UKRAINA 20141

This research aims to explain why Finland did not play role as peacemaker in Ukraine Crisis. The great contribution on mediating conflicts in international relation has made Finland play role as peacemaker, a country which is well known with its peace action. But as Ukraine Crisis occurs, Finland only helps by sending foreign aid and giving advice to Russia and Ukraine to arrange a mediationwithout introducing itself as the mediator. Using constructivist approaches, this research argues that there is identity conflict between Finland’s identity as a peacemaker and as a member of The European Union which is against Russia. The strong solidarity between The European Union and Finland caused Finland tends to support The European Union’s decision to impose economic sanction against Russia, instead of mediating the conflict. This research confirms a constructivist assumption that states must consider their identities in determining foreign policy, so they will not turned dilemma when they face a situation where they need to use more than one identity to conduct foreign policy.

A Climate for Justice? Faith-based Advocacy on Climate Change at the United Nations

Climate justice is an important issue for civil society advocacy at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). While the climate justice movement has received increasing scholarly attention, the contribution of faith-based actors (FBAs) to justice debates at the UNFCCC has been largely overlooked. This article examines the contribution of FBAs to the debate on climate justice and their relation to and difference from the climate justice movement. Based on a constructivist assumption that the meaning of climate change can be interpreted differently, this article understands action on climate change as an effect of its discursive construction. This article argues that FBAs are part of these discourses and that their religious and spiritual practices are constituted and constitutive of climate justice practices. Therefore, the aim of this article is to understand FBAs’ climate justice practices and critically reflect on their contribution to global climate change politics.

An exploration of objectivism and social constructivism within the context of disaster risk

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning of social constructivism and objectivism within the context of disaster risk from which disaster risk policy can be analysed. In particular, the paper attempts to explore the implications of social constructivism and objectivism in disaster risk which is essential in explaining why disaster risk has different nuances and consequently policy responses.Design/methodology/approach– A literature survey was used to explore social constructivism and objectivism within the context of disaster risk. The survey involved documentary searches from academic books, journal articles and disaster risk reports to serve as primary research data.Findings– The analysis revealed that viewing and managing disasters through the lens of objectivism might not yield the desired results of minimising risk as it conceals the vulnerabilities to disaster risk. The objectivist perspective is therefore in itself considered inadequate for the study of disaster risk and that social constructivist assumptions are required in order to analyse disaster risk. Towards this end, social constructivism offers a discursive approach to disaster risk policy science; one that more optimally illuminates competing local perspectives.Originality/value– An epistemological and ontological assessment of social constructivism and objectivism in disaster risk can assist greatly in understanding the discursive dimension of disaster risk through explanations of how and why disasters are framed the way they are framed and the implications of this on policy formulation and implementation.

Latin American vector in Russia’s Foreign Policy: Identities and interests in the Russian‑Venezuelan Partnership

Abstract The crisis in Ukraine, that broke out in 2013 and escalated in 2014, has led to sanction policy and the emergence of significant political divergences between Russian Federation and the West. This has resulted in an intensification of Russia’s foreign and economic policy alliances with its neighboring countries as well as with the rest of the BRICS members. In his interview with Cuba’s Prensa Latina, Vladimir Putin further classified cooperation with Latin American states as one of the key and very promising lines of Russia’s foreign policy. In light of the above mentioned developments, this paper addresses the Latin American vector of Russian foreign policy using the example of Russian-Venezuelan partnership, which has been intensified after 2004. It explores the underlying key elements of this partnership based on realist and constructivist assumptions and is aimed at outlining foreign policy identities, perceptions and interests constitutive for the cooperation between the two countries. The author concludes, that the cooperation is based both on realist and constructivist elements, whereas Russian interests are mainly realist and Venezuelan constructivist, and that fact could hinder long-lasting and both-way beneficial bilateral collaboration.

Informationskompetence som medlæring. Konstruktivistiske og handlingsorienterede læringsforståelser mellem uddannelseslæring og informationssøgning.

In this article we investigate different understandings of learning underlying the interpretation of students’ and researchers’ moves between learning in the university domain and learning processes, usually associated with information literacy, the latter including information managing activities like information seeking. We show that mainstream concepts like information need, “Anomalous State of Knowledge”, information seeking or topic inherit their learning theoretic background from a cognitive constructivist view on learning, dominating the understanding (and implementation) of learning in the domain of higher education. In order to construct a coherent understanding of disciplinary learning and information managing activities, cognitive constructivist assumptions on learning and the nature of information in learning processes are implicitly transferred to the domain of information literacy as well, establishing fields like generic or disciplinary information literacy. The application of cognitive constructivist assumptions on information literacy learning produces, in our opinion, an inadequate characterization of information related activities in the context of higher education, ignoring their unconscious, purely activity based character. In order to link information literacy as emergent, incidental learning to the typically formal and conscious contexts of disciplinary learning we propose a Critical Psychology framework, conceptualizing individual learning as a primarily activity based concept. This move makes the students’ and researchers’ shifts between the two domains understandable and allows reconstructing those movements as instantiations of coherent learning activities.

The crisis of legitimacy of the European Union from the constructivist perspective

The article is an attempt to analyse the legitimacy of the European Union, taken from the perspective of moderate constructivist theory. First, the author presents the constructivist assumptions about the legitimacy of the European Union. Then he emphasises the importance of discourse for the development of the EU and describes categories occurring in the multi-level political system. It is argued that strengthening of the discourses (their scope and communicated content) at European level in addition to the national discourses would promote the process of enhancing the legitimacy of the European Union. These discourses are relevant for the development of European identity that allows citizens to recognise the European political system as “their”, which will be – according to the author – the result of the processes concentrated on political activities, institutions and legal system embracing pluralism of opinions, attitudes and behaviors. The result would be “a common space of existence for the European citizens”.

A Critical Discourse Analysis

There is a lot of rhetoric related to current internet based distance education as accessible, flexible, just-in-time, cost-effective, innovative and interactive. In particular, discussion about the value of interaction for successful online learning experiences, which is grounded in social constructivist learning theories, has been ongoing for recent decades. The burgeoning popularity of online learning such as a MOOCs phenomenon and the rapid proliferation of its new name “e-learning” have pushed aside the older connotation of distance learning as an inferior form of learning compared to face-to-face instruction. With the advent of web technologies and the growing public interest in the Internet, a simultaneous claim from internet-based research that such environments are inherently interactive has reinforced the rhetoric about the “interactive nature of online learning”. As a result, literature suggests researchers have single-mindedly focussed on developing more effective interactive online learning with neither empirical examination of the claims nor careful investigation of distance educational contexts where their designs would be implemented in. In this context, the changing roles of online teachers have drawn great research attention and so have been conceptualized and theorised. This Foucauldian critical discourse analysis project looks closely into the rhetorical discourse and their influences on instructors’ perspectives and behaviours at open universities to address the gap in our current understanding about distance education. Two foci of this study are i) instructors’ language use: how instructors at open universities talk about their perspectives and experiences of online learning and ii) instructors’ subjects: how each instructor is described and characterized by other members at the universities and why. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 instructors in two open universities, one in North America and the other in Asia-Pacific region. Our findings show the powerful impact of the rhetorical discourse on instructors’ perspectives and their subjects, which has increased the potential danger of the institutional abuse of power against or the marginalization of a particular group of instructors. The ultimate aim of this study is not to refute social constructivist assumptions but to provide a different framework to broaden our understanding of the nature of online learning beyond the current set of assumptions.

The Comparative Analysis of Public Support for Developing Regional Regime in East Sea Rim (Sea of Japan) Region

AbstractThe East Sea (or Sea of Japan) (ESR/SOJ) Rim region, in which five countries – Japan, China, Russia, and North and South Korea – have their own coastal areas, is complex and dynamic, with many emerging regional security concerns. In this paper, the author tries to show that there is the possibility of a maritime regional regime in the ESR/SOJ region by investigating the level of public support, in Japan and South Korea, for the formation of a regional regime. Based on the theoretical assumptions of constructivism, the author analyzes what kinds of individual's social position factors influence the level of support for regional regime formation by conducting a nested regression model of survey datasets. The results of the statistical analysis suggest that people with a high level of national pride in South Korea are more likely to support a regional regime in the ESR/SOJ region. In contrast, for Japanese people, there is no relationship between people's national pride and the level of support for regional regime formation. The economic recession in Japan since the early 1990s has made public concern more about domestic policy than about foreign policy issues. Based on strong support of the bottom, public opinion towards regional regime formation, the South Korean government may play a leading role in developing a regional regime in the ESR/SOJ region (when the process of negotiation begins) as in the case of Japan in nineteenth century.