Annotated Bibliography of Resources for Educational Reform, Coherent Teaching Practice, and Improved Student Learning

You are viewing a resource record entry from SEDL's Annotated Bibliography Database.

• Walker, D., & Lambert, L. (1995). Learning and leading theory: A century in the making. In L. Lambert et al., The constructivist leader (pp. 1-27). New York: Teachers College Press.

Constructivism is a theory of learning and a theory of knowing. This book chapter provides a survey of the constructivist theory of learning and explicates the relationship between theories of learning and school leadership. A useful chart is included that traces recent learning theories and their parallel theories of leadership. Most of the chapter is devoted to the evolution of constructivist learning theory, showing how it was influenced by the work of Dewey, Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky, and Feuerstein, and continues to be clarified and supported by recent work in cognitive psychology. A new image of the learner emerges from this work that has profound implications for schooling. Does this theory apply to adults as well as children? The authors state that there are no reasons to believe that the cognitive processes are different at different ages. They conclude that "constructivism possesses a richness of thought, a different world view, that offers a sense of possibility rather than limitation to human growth and development."

Return to: Annotated Bibliography Search Page