Constructionism 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the conference in Dublin on 26th-29th May did not take place
Despite the cancellation of the conference, participants were adamant that a digital proceedings should be produced.
Proceedings are now available to download at this link (24 MB PDF).
The material below is preserved for posterity.
Conference Theme – Exploring, Testing and Extending our Understanding of Constructionism: what does Constructionism have to offer today?
Echo chambers, digital wildfires and fake news. The rise of AI, big data and robotics. Widening gaps in society, refugee crises, climate change, and so on. We certainly are “living in interesting times”. Times which require all of us working in education to do everything we possibly can to provide everyone with the best possible education to help them navigate and construct the “brave new world” in which they will live. As Lord David Puttnam put it ‘There won’t be much of a future for any of us unless we’re prepared to become significantly more imaginative – most particularly in respect of the way in which we approach the education of our young people.’
While much has changed in the world since Seymour Papert coined the term ‘Constructionism’ over 30 years ago, we might argue that little in education has. Constructionism has proven to be a pedagogical approach which flourishes in informal educational settings, yet in the formal classroom it is stymied by the traditional internal structures of schools such as timetabling and siloed subject teaching, as well as external expectations and measures. Perhaps Constructionism’s most visible contribution to formal education has been in the area of computer programming and computational thinking. Clearly Constructionism has a lot to contribute to how these topics are taught in schools, but Papert’s vision was much broader than that. Indeed James Clayson argues that “Constructionism has always been overly concerned with mathematical and computational literacy at the expense of kindred constructivist disciplines”.
Given the challenges and opportunities both within education and wider society today, what does Constructionism have to offer? Does it have a place in the traditional classroom and if so, how? How do the experiences of constructionism in different settings, e.g. corporate, community, makerspaces etc., inform each other? What are the kindred educational perspectives, sociological, psychological and other perspectives that the Constructionist Community should be engaging with? Are there limits to Constructionism and what is the evidence base? This conference aims to reflect on past experience; challenge existing ideas and explore new ones; consider how we engage with academics, teachers, parents, students and policy makers beyond our existing community; renew the vision of what Constructionism has to offer; and identify how we can collectively move that vision forward.
The conference organisers are committed to strive to make this meeting as inclusive as possible, so that a diverse range of people working in the field can participate. Further details to follow.
Original Dates
25th May – Teacher Day – in association with the Ministry of Education
26th to 29th of May 2020 – Constructionism 2020 Conference
(Event Cancelled due to COVID-19)
Planned Keynotes and Panels
Keynote 1: “THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CONSTRUCTIONISM AS A DISTINCTIVE PEDAGOGY” – Diana Laurillard
Keynote 2: “WHAT CONSTRUCTIONISTS DON’T KNOW ABOUT CONSTRUCTIONISM” – Andrea diSessa
Keynote 3: “A RE-READING OF THE POLITICAL STAKES OF CONSTRUCTIONISM AND ITS CURRENT CONTESTATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION” – Mick Wilson
Panel 1: “DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIONIST FUTURES” – Nathan Holbert, Yasmin Kafai and Matthew Berland
Conference Website
Follow us on Twitter @ConstructC2020
Venue
Trinity College Dublin was founded in 1592 and is the sole constituent college of The University of Dublin. The campus is located in the heart of Dublin city and is a short walk from shops, restaurants, bars, museums, cathedrals, Dublin Castle and most of the main tourist attractions.
Conference accommodation will be available on campus and there are numerous hotels and guest houses nearby.
Dublin is well connected by air with direct flights to most major European cities, hubs in North America, and Dubai.
Conference Publication
Despite the cancellation of the conference, all accepted submissions were invited to publish online in a digital Conference Proceedings with an ISBN under an Open Access Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Following the conference, a special section of the British Journal of Educational Technology to be published entitled Constructionism Moving Forward in March 2021. Those contributing to the Constructionism 2020 conference were encouraged to develop and expand on their submissions to these proceedings for consideration as part of this special section in BJET.
Conference Chairs
Carina Girvan, Cardiff University
Jake Rowan Byrne, Trinity College Dublin
Brendan Tangney, Trinity College Dublin
Previous Conferences
Constructionism 2010 – France, Paris
Constructionism 2012 – Greece, Athens
Constructionism 2014 – Austria, Vienna
Constructionism 2016 – Thailand, Bangkok
Constructionism 2018 – Vilnius, Lithuania