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Cited by 1,330Educational theories and practicesEducational Leadership and AdministrationEducational Theory and Curriculum Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 54 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism

Phillips, D. C.·1995·Educational Researcher
DOI 10.3102/0013189x024007005
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Abstract

Across the broad fields of educational theory and research, constructivism has become something akin to a secular religion. In her book Evolution as a Religion (1985), Mary Midgley wrote that the theory of evolution is not just an inert piece of theoretical science. It is, and cannot help being, also a folk-tale about human origins. Any such narrative must have symbolic force (1985, p. 1). She might well have written the same about constructivism, which is, whatever else it may be, a powerful folktale about the origins of human knowledge. As in all living religions, constructivism has many sects-each of which harbors some distrust of its rivals. This descent into

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Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. Collins H, 1985, Changing order
  2. Fuller S, 1988, Social epistemology
  3. Goldman A, 1992, Liaisons
  4. Kant I, 1959, Critique of pure reason
  5. Kulp CB, 1992, The end of epistemology
  6. Longino H, 1993, Feminist epistemologies, 101
  7. Matthews MR, 1992, Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society, 303
  8. Nelson LH, 1993, Feminist epistemologies, 121
  9. Phillips DC, 1992, Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society, 312
  10. von Glasersfeld E, 1984, The invented reality, 17

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Authors
Phillips, D. C.
Corresponding author
Phillips, D. C.
Venue
Educational Researcher
Publisher
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Published
1995-10
Volume
24
Issue
7
Pages
5-12
ISSN
  • 0013-189X (ISSN-L)
  • 1935-102X
DOI
10.3102/0013189x024007005
OpenAlex
W2096126412
Cited by
1,330
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 48 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 43
FWCI
172.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Educational Researcher (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational theories and practices
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Leadership and Administration
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies
Keywords
constructivism, educational theory, origin of knowledge, Mary Midgley, philosophy of education, critique of constructivism

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.3102/0013189x024007005
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Phillips, D. C. (1995). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism. Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x024007005