perecived them to be within art and design (54.4percent, felt working together was
‘very important’, whilst 22.8percent, thought it was ‘fairly important’).
Recognising learning as a dialogic, social process
Notions of constructivist and co-constructivist learning have been the focus of
educational research in schools, galleries and museums for many years [26]. In
Constructivist theory the learner is recognised as a knowledgeable resource, a person
who brings to every learning situation her or his understandings of the world. In this
way learning is conceived as a process of adaptation in which the learner’s view of
the world is constantly modified by new information and experience.
3/good: But then I just learned that instead of doing paintings all by yourself, you can
just like express yourself with different people like working together.
Building on constructivist theory, co-constructivism emphasises that such learning is
necessarily a social process in which language and dialogue are primary [27]. These
dialogues take place between individuals who are socially situated within historically
and culturally specific learning environments.
2/disengaged: Say we ’re doing us and everything in our project... it ,s basically about
what’s in London and what’s connected to us and everything.
In both formal and informal pedagogic situations the values accruing to these
environments enact specific power relations and, for co-constructivists, the latter must
be acknowledged before mutuality can be developed.
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