Abstract

This article argues that a social constructivist approach to teaching critical reasoning is reductionist because it sees knowledge construction predominantly as a rational process of critical reflection. Research in adult education and theories of learning indicates that social constructivism fails educational practices. These studies suggest that this is the result of focusing too narrowly on cognitive knowledge. However, I argue that, while the impact of socio-cultural realities and political power structures on epistemological paradigms and educational practices cannot be ignored, social constructivism falls short of taking into account embodied everyday experiences that form the vital context within which sense-making takes place. The article challenges social constructivism in maintaining that teaching and learning critical reasoning is a fully embodied process, inseparable from the experiential life-world of the learner that co-emerges with the complex structures of the environment. Following an enactivist approach, I propose a revisiting of the current social constructivist teaching paradigm so as to reconsider the question of how we learn things and to understand the process whereby meanings are created not only rationally, but also across multidimensional contexts and complex situations in which learners operate and of which they form an integral part.