Constructivism “Embrace the Ambiguity: Challenges of Teaching/Learning Constructivism”

Teaching Constructivism is a challenge in part because many undergraduates find the theory’s inherent ambiguities disconcerting, especially in environments where they are accustomed to instructors telling them “the right answer.” We argue that this very quality makes teaching Constructivism an opportunity to shift student perspectives on the purpose of learning about the world and empower them to think theoretically about their own participation in global politics. Because Constructivism posits that the rules that determine global political outcomes can and do change and that actors who participate in global political activities are agents of those changes, undergraduate students are empowered as both influencers and theoretical thinkers. The chapter suggests strategies for introducing undergraduate students to Constructivism, rehearses explanatory language and examples that we have found useful, and describes active learning techniques that invite students in as authors of their own learning.