Ernest's Constructivist Principles

Paul Ernest (1995) in his description of the many schools of thought of constructivism suggests the following implications of constructivism which derive from both the radical and social perspectives:
1. sensitivity toward and attentiveness to the learner's previous constructions;
2. diagnostic teaching attempting to remedy learner errors and misconceptions;
3. attention to metacognition and strategic self-regulation by learners;
4. the use of multiple representations of mathematical concepts;
5. awareness of the importance of goals for the learner, and the dichotomy between learner and teacher goals;
6. awareness of the importance of social contexts, such as the difference between folk or street mathematics and school mathematics (and an attempt to exploit the former for the latter) (p.485).