Brian R Lawler is an associate professor of mathematics education at California State University San Marcos. He draws upon a constructivist foundation to build theory for an ethical mathematical education. He studies socio-epistemological problems related to both the teaching and learning of what may be named mathematical knowledge as well as the mathematical knowledge of the discipline. He writes curriculum for high school students and teachers.
Hackenberg A. J. & Lawler B. R. (2002) An ethics of liberation emerging from a radical constructivist foundation. In: Valero P. & Skovsmose O. (eds.) Proceedings of the 3rd International MES Conference. Centre for Research in Learning Mathematics, Copenhagen: 1–13. https://cepa.info/7027
The actions of the mathematics teacher are bound up in ethical decisions that impact the learner and teacher, both within and external to the formal school curriculum. This paper argues that the principles of a radical constructivist theory of knowing underlie a model for an ethics of liberation. A learner’s active construction of their experiential reality, including the construction of the independent existence of the other and resulting social implications, frame guidelines for actions that are liberatory. To demonstrate this point, the paper develops the ideas of responsibility of the self, unique directions of learning, and socially-generated disequilibrium. When teachers and their students act according to such guidelines, they are freed to know mathematics and hence themselves in ways that allow them to work toward social justice and democratic ideals.
Lawler B. R. (2014) Forging a Constructivist Pedagogy: Focus on Teacher Decision-Making. Constructivist Foundations 9(3): 412–415. https://constructivist.info/9/3/412
Open peer commentary on the article “Radical Constructivist Structural Design Education for Large Cohorts of Chinese Learners” by Christiane M. Herr. Upshot: In this comment, I take Herr’s proposition for a constructivist-informed pedagogy for structural design education to extract initial ideas for a framework for a constructivist pedagogy, a framework focused on the decision-making of a constructivist teacher. I enhance this initial framework with initial findings of a study I conducted with a constructivist mathematics teacher.