Abstract

The body of scholarship which comprises social constructionist thought likely contains the most prominent epistemological and sociological theories of today, explaining as it does self and knowledge formation in society. However, theories of social constructionism have occasionally proven to be problematic when applied to composition studies, particularly in Kenneth Bruffee's use of them as the basis for his collaborative learning pedagogy. Bruffee believes that because a social constructionist position assumes that knowledge is formed intersubjectively in society, his students will create knowledge intersubjectively when organized in collaborative learning groups. This conclusion, and thus Bruffee's pedagogy, proves to be problematic because research and experience have demonstrated that knowledge is often not formed intersubjectively in society, but rather through tradition, power, and control. Therefore, students will often have considerable difficulty working collaboratively in small groups, and what they form in these groups might be something less than knowledge with truth-value. ;Other compositionists, such as Patricia Bizzell and Bennett Rafoth, have also drawn from social constructionist theories with considerable success in writing about the influence of discourse communities on the writing process. I recommend another possible use for social constructionism--as a basis for cultural criticism. I define cultural criticism as an exercise involving an examination of political elements of society in an attempt to tease out the unconscious ideologies held by society members with the intention of creating a more enlightened society. Readings in social constructionist theory can be used as translating devices, or heuristics, for the examination of culture. In my cultural criticism class I use readings in social constructionist theory as heuristics for the interpretation of society in an effort to tease out students' unconscious ideologies and teach them how to apply social theory to society. This pedagogy avoids questionable assumptions both in social constructionist theory and in the pedagogy of collaborative learning advocated by Bruffee