This is one of my favorite themes. I condemn Constructivism because it seems to be an all-purpose excuse for not teaching. Teachers are actually ordered not to teach! I think we should do the exact opposite, that is, teach more and teach better.

 This nonsense has now spread through the K-12 system, top to bottom, side to side, in every single course. The amount of facts presented to children in a given year has probably been cut in half, just to make a wild guess. And that's in the last 20 years.

My point is  that it's so easy to teach, teach, teach. The children want to learn. Brains are designed to acquire information, because that's how animals survive in the jungle, etc..

 I just put a hearty endorsement of knowledge on EducationViews called "Don't Waste Their Time." it's a good article for every teacher who needs a prod to get back in the knowledge business:  http://www.educationviews.org/dont-waste-time-teach-something/


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For me, as an intellectual generalist, interesting stuff is everywhere you look. So you teach a few facts each day. Do the math. By high school, the kids will know thousands of facts. They'll be educated in the old-fashioned sense of that word, instead of empty-headed which seems to be the goal now.

(FYI: I have a piece on my site call The Con in Constructivism, which is a more conceptual attack on this fad: http://www.improve-education.org/id55.html

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